Perfect Pesto Portions

Yesterday I hit the jackpot. No, I didn’t win the lottery and sadly we cannot move into our dream house and quit our jobs just yet. But I got something almost as good – leftovers! We came home from my aunt’s house with lots of goodies from my cousin’s bar mitzvah. Normally I am not a big fan of leftovers, but I picked the most useful items:

-freshly carved turkey and roast beef , good for bringing sandwiches to work this week
-fresh buffalo mozzarella
-smoked salmon, aka lox
-and a HUGE bag of fresh basil
You should have seen the look on face when my aunt offered me the basil. She said, “is there anything you can do with this?” Obviously, PESTO! There’s nothing better than pesto, and it since it freezes well and is so easy to make, it was the perfect solution.

I usually freeze my pesto in a tupperware or ziploc bag, but that makes it a little difficult when I just want a little bit to add to a dish. Today I tried something different: I froze my pesto in small, usuable portoions. I did this by using a medium-size cookie scoop to drop gobs of pesto onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, freezing, then wrapping each piece in plastic wrap and dumping them in all in a large plastic bag. This way, I can take out just what I need, and I was able to calculate the nutrional info of each portion. (pretty important to me when trying to add to a recipe). Another thing about my pesto: I tend to make it on the thicker side to freeze, and thin out with chicken broth when serving (lowers the fat, just a little). Anyway, my pesto:

In food processor, combine:
-6 cups loosely-packed fresh basil leaves
-1 cup toasted pine nuts (cook in a dry skillet over medium-low heat till lightly browned, stirring often)
-1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
-2 cloves garlic
-juice from 1/2 lemon
-salt and pepper
-6 tbsp olive oil
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