Pesto Sauce

One of my favorite things about summer is fresh basil and tomatoes from the garden. Well, the nights have been getting cold...finally...and the summer garden was hanging on by a thread. I have oven roasted my last maters for the season and I harvested enough basil to make pesto to tide us over until next year. Here it what I do...kinda easy.

In a food processor, add:

8 cups of washed and packed basil leaves

8ish garlic cloves (depending on their size and your level of garlic passion)

1 cup Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup toasted walnuts (pine nuts are traditional, but walnuts are what we have)

Start machine and drizzle olive oil in until contents form a paste. I usually use 3/4 cup to 1 cup of oil.

At this point, your kitchen will smell like summer in Italy and you will be smiling from ear to ear. I spoon the sauce into mini muffin pans and freeze until they are solid...or until I remember they are in the freezer and then pop the individual yumminess into freezer bags and back into the freezer.

When I am ready to use one, I set one or two out to thaw for about 15 minutes before stirring into a bowl of rice or a kettle of soup throughout the winter. One of our favorite ways to enjoy the pesto is to add one to pan fried potatoes...seriously, fantastic!