pesto.

I love my grandma Betty's homemade pesto. Reminds me of summertime at her cabin on the lake in MN. I've had her recipe sitting in my recipe box for over 2 years. I finally whipped up a batch this weekend. For dinner last night, we had chicken pesto sandwiches on grilled sourdough bread, with sun-dried tomatoes and provolone on the patio. Went great with this pasta salad and fresh cantaloupe. (pasta, white bread, cheese...yum! that was my one day to cheat for the week...down 12 lbs!)
I froze half the batch to make pesto chicken tortellini with artichoke hearts, pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes at a later time. I love meals I can make ahead and roll over into multiple dishes. there are so many possibilities with this recipe.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups fresh basil leaves
3 tbs. pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 Romano cheese, grated
2/3 c. olive oil
2 cloves garlic
half tsp salt (optional, but the cheese already has a lot of salt, so taste before adding)
dash of pepper

Directions:
Wash and drain basil. Remove stems
(Optional : toast the pine nuts in skillet)
Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Freeze or refrigerate until ready to use.