While having a quick lunch in Amsterdam, I ordered pasta with red pesto, which was something I had actually never heard.
I couldn’t wait for it to be ready, partly because I was super hungry, and partly because this was a type of pesto out there that I hadn’t tried.
The big bowl of pasta came, and it was delish, and of course super easy to understand that the main ingredient was “sun-dried tomatoes”. I googled about the recipe, experimented with it at home for months, and here it is, the simplest and most delicious sun-dried tomato pesto recipe.
I love it with pasta or over a slice of bread mixed with ricotta, labneh or hummus. I’ve enjoyed it also with quinoa, or oven roasted vegetables. The beauty of it is that you can make a big batch and freeze it portion-sized, so it’s ready whenever you need it.
Sun-dried tomatoes pesto
Ingredients
- 2 cups sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 bunch of parsley
- 1 bunch of basil
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 50 g grated hard cheese
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 lemon - juice and zest(optional)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Chili flakes (optional)
Instructions
- If you are using dry sun-dried tomatoes, put them in warm water for 5 minutes before using. Discard the water and put the tomatoes in the food processor.
- If you are using oil-preserved sun-dried tomatoes, discard the preserving oil, and put the tomatoes in the food processor.
- Add parsley, basil, sunflower seeds, grated cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, and blend for about 1 minute, or until a thick paste is formed.
- Check for salt, before adding any, since sun-dried tomatoes are quite salty themselves.
- Season with pepper and chili flakes at the end.
- Divide it in portions and freeze for future use.
I usually use 1 tbsp pesto and 2-3 tbsp pasta water, for one bowl of pasta, but this depends on your taste.
Notes
1 cup = 1 standard cup 240 ml
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