Skip to main content

Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta


Summer does not make me feel much like cooking.  This recipe might change my mind.  The sauce is basically a pesto with a little pasta water thrown in and warmed by the hot pasta.  It smells like summer and is an easy, no-cook dinner.  The pesto would also be lovely spread on crostini with goat cheese or ricotta.  Definitely one to add to the summer dinner rotation.

Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta

1 package or jar of sundried tomatoes*
1 clove garlic, smashed
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon basil leaves, torn
1/8 teaspoon (or to taste) red pepper flakes
parmesan cheese, grated (to taste)
salt and pepper
olive oil
cavatapi or other ridged pasta

Coarsely chop tomatoes and put in the bowl of a food processor.  Add garlic, almonds, basil, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.  Pulse a few times and with the processor running, add olive oil until mixture comes together into a loose paste.  Stir in parmesan cheese.  Transfer to air tight container or add to cooked pasta.  Be sure to reserve a little pasta water to help the pesto adhere to the noodles. 

Pesto tastes better the longer it sits.  Making ahead of time is a good idea.

*The package of sundried tomatoes I used is simply a vacuum sealed container.  If using a jar of sundried tomatoes in olive oil, be sure to drain and reserve the oil it comes in and add the jarred oil to the pesto and add regular olive oil if needed.  If the jar is packed in water, drain the water and use regular olive oil.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Autumn Lovin'

Yes, I realize that we are almost half way through September and I have yet to publish a post for this month.  My apologies.  To make up for it, I have a double post of good fall recipes for you.  Here you go: Fall. I love it for so many reasons. The first reason being how everything outside is so beautiful. Trees are dressed in brilliant shades of warm colors. I love the crisp air. I love pulling out the sweaters and jeans. I love tailgating. There are so many wonderful things about fall, I haven’t even gotten to the food yet! I absolutely love fall foods. Low and slow stews, caramel apples, mulled cider, warm donuts…I could go on but I’m afraid I’d drool all over the keyboard.  What do you love most about fall? Game Day Cookies So here are the ingredients: first cool weather of the year, first weekend of college football and your husband is hosting a poker party. What does that add up to? Baking of course. I decided that those ingredients were the pe...

Shortbread Cookies

This is one of those recipes that you will either love me for or curse the day that I was born.  (It's August 6 for those of you who make these and then step on the scale.)  These cookies contain about a stick of butter per cookie...well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but that is precisely why they are so irresistible.  I made these a couple weeks ago and what I wouldn't give right now for one of these crumbly, decadent, sweet cookies melting in my mouth as I write this.  Sadly, they were polished off within a day or two of making them.  Yes, August 6 was on the receiving end of some curses the other week.  Poor August 6. This is a recipe I got from Barefoot Contessa.  What I love about it, other than the fact that they are downright addictive, is that it only takes a few ingredients and it is pretty quick and easy to put together.  You don't need a lot of special equipment, but if you have a shortbread cookie cutter, that ...

Anniversary Trip 2010

Rome Wednesday/Thursday March 3-4 We start our journey at 9:30 in the morning at Grand Rapids airport.  From there, it is off to Cincinnati, then to New York.  At 5:00 pm we are in the skies en route to Rome.  We land at 8am Roman time.  After a short train ride, we arrive to our hotel, in the rain and check in.  We change, freshen up and go out to explore the area near our hotel and grab lunch.  We stop in a little deli which serves panini and made to order pizza.  Gelato was also on my mind and oh...how to describe such creamy, rich decadence?  It was pure heaven.  We were in Piazza Barberini.  Luckily, the rain stopped and we were free to roam Rome.  Jet lag quickly set in for me.  We found our way to the Pantheon and walked in.  It was amazing.  It still didn't quite sink into me yet that we were actually in Rome.  We decide to head back to the hotel for a quick nap before we went out for dinner...