Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

I am completely obsessed with sun-dried tomatoes! They are rich, chewy, sweet, and packed full of flavor. My favorite way to buy them from the store is packed in olive oil, because it keeps the tomatoes tender. I find that when I buy them dried in a bag, they are too hard, difficult to chew, and not as flavorful. If you haven’t noticed, I use my Lemony Basil Pesto recipe on everything! I think my husband has had lemony basil pesto overload, so I wanted to come up with another pesto that has a different flavor profile, and something that has a hearty “fall” feel.

This sun-dried tomato pesto is packed full of flavor! The sun-dried tomatoes have a deep tomato flavor, which pair well with herbaceous, fresh basil. Garlic adds a nice bite to the pesto, along with spicy red pepper flakes. Then, the flavors of the pesto are rounded out by salty and nutty parmesan cheese. The mixture of all these flavors create a full-bodied, flavor packed pesto.

Pesto recipes are really great to have around because they can be used in a number of different recipes, AND are really freezer friendly. So, for those crazy/busy nights, you can simply pull out some pesto from the freezer and you instantly have something that amps up your dinner. You can add it to chicken, steak, shrimp, pasta, anything!

***The easiest way to freeze pesto is to fill an ice cube tray with the pesto, let it freeze, and once it’s frozen place it in a freezer safe plastic bag. Then, you can just take out one or two cubes out at a time as needed.***

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Author:

Maria Provenzano

For best results, use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil. Drain the tomatoes if desired.

Ingredients

• 1- 8.5oz jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil; about 1 heaping cup

• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

• 1 large (or two small) garlic clove

• 1 cup fresh basil; lightly packed

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes; optional; add more or less depending on how much spice you like

• 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Place the garlic in the food processor and process until the garlic is in very fine pieces

2. Place the sun-dried tomatoes, grated parmesan, fresh basil, and red pepper flakes into the food processor

3. Process to combine

4. With the mixer running, pour in about 1/4 cup olive oil and mix until smooth

5. Add more olive oil if needed, it should be thick, but thin enough to smoothly fall off a spoon

6. Add salt and pepper as needed

7. Add more red pepper flakes if desired

8. If freezing, fill an ice cube tray with the pesto and freeze; once frozen, place the pesto ice cubes into a freezer safe plastic bag and label with the date; it should stay good for about 3 months in the freezer