Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Recipe
You will absolutely love this simple, no-cook, sun dried tomato pesto sauce recipe! It blends the delicious flavors of traditional pesto, with its fresh basil, toasted pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese, with the bright burst of sun-dried tomatoes. This summer sauce uses whole ingredients and comes together using a food processor or high-speed blender. Use it to spread on sandwiches, dip bread into, or toss with a bowl of pasta.
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Every summer, I grow my weight in basil plants. I absolutely love it and make plenty of pesto sauce to enjoy throughout the summer, and also preserve some for the fall and winter.
Our favorite use of basil is to make a classic Italian pesto and toss it with gnocchi, spread it over grilled chicken, or add it to grilled cheese sandwiches.
However, when I heard about sundried tomato pesto, I was immediately intrigued. I knew I needed to try it! To my surprise, the tomato flavor is a sweet addition to the traditional garlic, peppery basil pesto.
What is Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and Why You’ll Love It
Sun dried tomato pesto (“pesto rosso” in Italian) is similar to traditional basil pesto but with the addition of sun-dried tomatoes. It has all of the flavors we love with traditional pesto, like garlic, basil, pine nuts, and cheese, but with the addition of tangy tomatoes for a bright and fresh-tasting sauce.
This recipe is all about quick and easy, and one of my favorite ways to have a farm-to-table type dinner in as little time as it takes to make pasta. It’s as easy as cooking the pasta, draining the water, and tossing it all in red pesto goodness. Just like that, with just a handful of ingredients, you have a simple weeknight dinner that’s filling and nutritious.
Ingredients
- Sun-dried tomatoes – Sun dried tomatoes come in two forms, oil packed or dried. You will need oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes for this recipe.
- Parmesan cheese – This cheese is a hard cow’s milk cheese. You can also use a mix of Pecorino Romano, which is a hard sheep’s milk cheese, if you want.
- Pine nuts – Adds a lovely creaminess to the pesto!
- Olive oil – While it may be tempting to use regular olive oil, I recommend using extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor. With so few ingredients, you want to choose each one with the best flavor and highest quality.
- Basil – What’s pesto without basil? Find fresh basil leaves at your local farmers’ market or grow your own.
- Garlic – Use fresh garlic cloves for a punchy, garlic flavor.
How to Make Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
- Add pine nuts to a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. As the skillet heats up, stir to keep the nuts from burning. Sauté until the pine nuts turn light golden brown and fragrant, roughly 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the sundried tomatoes with the oil, basil leaves, parmesan cheese, and garlic cloves to the food processor.
- Blend until smooth. It will have a rustic, homemade look to it and not perfectly smooth.
- Add extra olive oil for a runnier pesto sauce.
How to Use Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
There is a myriad of ways to enjoy this delicious pesto sauce:
- Roast vegetables on a large baking sheet until they have a nice char on them. Then, toss the roasted vegetables with sundried tomato pesto and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar right before serving.
- Make a quick and easy sun-dried tomato pesto pasta salad by adding pesto sauce to a large bowl of pasta. Serve it at room temperature.
- Serve as an appetizer with slices of bread, like my sourdough baguette or sourdough ciabatta bread.
- Think of it as a multi-purpose condiment that you can use on almost everything like pasta, salads, appetizers, pizzas, and sandwiches.
Tips
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a bit of spice.
- Between the salt in the tomatoes and cheese, I felt that there was enough salt in the sauce. However, if you are using homemade sun-dried tomatoes, you may need to add additional salt. Season your sauce with ½ teaspoon salt and taste it before adding more.
- Want to make this pesto sauce vegan and dairy-free? Swap out the cheese with nutritional yeast for that umami flavor.
- Just one cherry tomato plant will supply plenty of fresh tomatoes for you to dry your own tomatoes from. However, if you aren’t growing any tomatoes, just grab a jar at your local grocery store!
Storage
Spoon leftover pesto into an airtight container and top off with enough oil to seal the sauce. Refrigerate up to 4 days. These simple steps keep it from oxidizing and turning brown. When ready to use, stir the extra oil into the sauce and enjoy.
If You Liked This, You’ll Like…
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 cup sundried tomatoes with oil
- 70 g pine nuts ½ cup
- 3 cloves garlic
- 25 g basil leaves, packed 1 cup
- 50 g parmesan cheese ½ cup
- ¼-½ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Add pine nuts to a cast iron skillet over medium heat. As the skillet heats up, stir to keep the nuts from burning.
- Sauté until the pine nuts turn light golden brown and fragrant.
- Remove from the heat and add to the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the sundried tomatoes with the oil, basil leaves, parmesan cheese, and garlic cloves to the food processor. Blend until smooth. It will have a rustic, homemade look to it and not perfectly smooth.
- Add extra olive oil for a runnier pesto sauce.
Notes
How to Use Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
There is a myriad of ways to enjoy this delicious pesto sauce:
-
- Roast vegetables on a large baking sheet until they have a nice char on them. Then, toss the roasted vegetables with sundried tomato pesto and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar right before serving.
-
- Make a quick and easy sun-dried tomato pesto pasta salad by adding pesto sauce to a large bowl of pasta. Serve it at room temperature.
-
- Serve as an appetizer with slices of bread, like my sourdough baguette or sourdough ciabatta bread.
-
- Think of it as a multi-purpose condiment that you can use on almost everything like pasta, salads, appetizers, pizzas, and sandwiches.
Tips
-
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes for a bit of spice.
-
- Between the salt in the tomatoes and cheese, I felt that there was enough salt in the sauce. However, if you are using homemade sun-dried tomatoes, you may need to add additional salt. Season your sauce with ½ teaspoon salt and taste it before adding more.
-
- Want to make this pesto sauce vegan and dairy-free? Swap out the cheese with nutritional yeast for that umami flavor.
-
- Just one cherry tomato plant will supply plenty of fresh tomatoes for you to dry your own tomatoes from. However, if you aren’t growing any tomatoes, just grab a jar at your local grocery store.
