Pesto Sauce

This past Friday we were with our small group from church and the hostess made the most incredible pesto pizza.  That reminded me that I needed to gather my basil from the garden before the cold weather claimed it.  I had enough to quadruple the recipe so I thought I would show you a neat trick my sister taught me.  Using muffin tins you can freeze them in convenient portions.

What you need:
 4-5 cups fresh basil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts, almonds, or walnuts
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves crushed garlic

Gather approximately 5 cups of basil and wash it.  Combine all the other ingredients and place in a blender and blend until well combined.  If you are not going to use it right away, it can be frozen.  Follow the next steps to freeze.

Spoon the mixture into muffin tins.  No need to oil it first, there is enough oil in the mixture to keep it from sticking too bad. Place the filled muffin tins in the freezer until frozen through (a couple of hours).

After frozen through, run a knife around each circle of pesto and pop out with a spoon.  Take each pesto round and place in a freezer bag.  To use, defrost and store in the refrigerator.  Try using it like my friend did in place of sauce and cheese on a pizza crust, topped with tomatoes.