Recipe: Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Spread

Hello everyone,

This weekend I did a little spring cleaning in my kitchen. I found a rather large jar of sunFullSizeRender_2 dried tomatoes, and I knew I had to use them soon. What could I do? Obviously, I could make penne pasta with sun dried tomatoes and olive oil, or I could toss them in a salad, on a sandwich, etc. I decided I wanted to make something a little more original.

My AeroGarden has been going gangbusters lately. I have so much basil, parsley, mint, cilantro, and dill, I just don’t know what to do with it. A light bulb went off, and I decided that I would make a sun dried tomato pesto. That would use the sun dried tomatoes, basil, and parsley. Perfect!

Pesto: noun pes·to \ˈpes-(ˌ)tō\
  • : an Italian sauce that is made especially of fresh basil, garlic, oil, and grated cheese.

Now, I’m no stranger to making pesto. But I normally make traditional pesto. You know, that green stuff that goes on linguini. I’m not saying it’s not good, but it’s not the most versatile food item.

This is the perfect recipe if you want a versatile pesto/ sauce/ spread that can be used for pasta one night and on top of crackers the next. The best part – it’s super fast and easy to make! You simply need to locate your ingredients, toast some pine nuts, and throw everything in a food processor. It tastes much more difficult than it is. You can impress your friends with a dish that took you literally minutes to make. Isn’t that the best?

Cheers!

Jocelyn

 

PS – Here’s my AeroGarden. It’s one of the smaller models, but I think it produces more than enough for a two person household. My herbs sprouted in January and are still going strong! I honestly wasn’t expecting that!

 

 

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Spread

***Please feel free to share widely, just give me some credit or a link back

Prep Time: ~15 minutes; Yield: 24 oz/ 3 cups

Ingredients/ Shopping List:

  • 2 cups, sun dried tomatoes, drained 
  • ½ cup, olive oil (I used the oil I drained from the sun dried tomato jar).
  • 1 cup, fresh basil
  • ¼ cup, fresh parsley
  • 1 cup, pine nuts, toasted
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 shallot
  • ¼ cup, vegan parmesan cheese
  • Pepper, fresh ground, to taste

Directions:

  • Toast the pine nuts over low heat until golden brown.
  • Combine the sun-dried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, olive oil, basil, parsley, garlic, shallot, and cheese in a food processor.
    • Pulse until well mixed.
    • You may need to slowly add in more olive oil to achieve a smooth consistency that is lightly chunky.
  • Spread on crusty bread or crackers and enjoy!

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