Don’t you love when you discover a new food that blows your mind, despite the fact that others have been raving about it for ages?
Some of mine:
- Avocado (I “hated” avocado until I ate my face off w/ guacamole in Mexico, 2007)
- Mushrooms (anyplace, anytime)
- Beets (raw, cooked, juiced, I like them all)
- Tofu
- raw cacao powder (a recent baking discovery…I’m obsessed!)
- Dark chocolate (it took me a while to appreciate the intensity, but now I love it)
My latest cooking discovery: Sundried Tomatoes!
Where have you been all my life?
I can’t seem to stop putting them in my food. My first recipe was Sundried Tomato Cheezy Kale Chips. Sundried tomatoes are just so flavourful and fun to add into so many dishes.
For some reason, I could not get the thought of sundried tomato basil pesto out of my mind.
I made two trials of this pesto using both oil-packed (shown today) and non-oil packed sundried tomatoes. Both worked wonderfully, however the recipe changes slightly which I will note below. If you are using non-oil packed tomatoes, be sure to soak them in water for at least 1-2 hours before making this pesto. Finally, look for organic, sulfite-free sundried tomatoes if you are concerned about consuming sulfites.
Don’t mind the upside down sea salt. It’s a long story that resulted in an exploded bottom with salt spilled over every nook and cranny of the kitchen. I won’t mention any names (cough, husband, cough). It now rests upside down with tin foil covering the jagged plastic bottom.
You will need about 20 grams of fresh basil which is equal to a 1/2 packed cup. Really pack it in so it’s overflowing!
Much like my Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto, this pesto isn’t the prettiest to look at, but it sure tastes incredible!
Ok, maybe itis kinda pretty with the right lighting! It’s a sunny & orange sundried pesto.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Lightened-Up Sundried Tomato Basil Pesto Pasta
Yield
3/4 cup
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
This lightened up pesto has just 1/4 cup of olive oil, but I promise you won’t know the difference . The sundried tomatoes, walnuts, and basil create an extremely flavourful pesto that goes wonderfully with pasta, sandwiches or wraps, or mixed into some grilled vegetables. Can’t have nuts? Just leave them out. The addition of the walnuts was more of an afterthought than a main ingredient.
Ingredients
For the pesto
- 2 garlic cloves
- 20 grams fresh basil leaves (1/2 cup packed)
- 55 grams (about 7) oil-packed sundried tomatoes (see notes)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 6-8 tbsp water
- 3-4 tbsp walnuts (toasted, if preferred)
- Fine grain sea salt + pepper, to taste (I used 1/4 tsp salt)
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
For the pasta
- Your choice of pasta
- Walnuts, chopped and toasted
- Fresh basil
- Sundried tomatoes, chopped
- Pesto
Directions
- In a food processor, with the machine running, drop in the 2 garlic cloves to mince. Now, drop in the basil and process until finely chopped.
- Pour in the olive oil, with the machine running, along with the tomatoes, nutritional yeast (optional), and water (add slowly as needed). Process until mostly smooth.
- Pulse in the walnuts until chunky and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Tip:
If using dry, non oil-packed sundried tomatoes, soak 30 grams in a bowl of water for 1-2 hours until very soft. Reserve the soaking water and use it in the pesto. I used 9 tbsp of soaking water, but you may need less or more depending on your preference.
Served with toasted crunchy bread, this meal was one to remember. I didn’t think I would ever like a pesto more than my Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto, but this one is now tied for first!
If you find yourself with leftover pesto, I recommend spreading it on a sandwich or wrap, along with roasted veggies, spinach, and avocado. Mmmmm, yes I highly recommend that. Or just mix some pesto into some roasted veggies for a tasty side dish. It should keep for a week in the fridge, but I doubt it will last that long.
Oh wow, this looks delicious! I’m with you on the sundried tomato craze… I recently found some dried organic ones at a local health food store and have been adding them to every meal possible! My fave so far has been rehydrating them and blending with roasted red peppers to make a dip/spread (the recipe is here: http://eat-spin-run-repeat.com/recipes-2/?recipe_id=6021879).
PS where are your wooden bowls from? They’re gorgeous!!! (And so are the photos, but I know that’s because there’s one crazy talented lady behind the camera.) ;)
They are from a garage sale…heh :)
I cannot believe you didn’t like avocados – one of my biggest joys in life!! Glad you’ve come around to the right side
This sounds and looks incredible! I always thought I didn’t like sundried tomatoes and then one day I had them on a pizza and Boom! I loved them. Now I eat them on pizza, in salads and pastas and sometimes I just grab a handful to munch on while I’m cooking dinner. I just bought a ginormous bag of sundried tomatoes at Costco, so now all I need is the basil and I can make this!
I love mushrooms TOO Angela! The texture is one that I think I’ve heard people say they “HATE” or “LOVE” more than any one food item. {
lovers say “wonderful”
haters say “rubbery”}
But I’ve not been around for too long ;). Thank you for this recipe, Angela. We FINALLY broke into that giant sun-dried tomato container and we made a tossed pasta salad with it~ your looks really nice
I just discovered sundried tomatoes too! They’re awesome in this vegan recipe from The Kitchn:
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-braised-coconut-spinach-chickpeas-with-lemon-164551
I love anything that lets me stew them though. They’re great in a big stew of quinoa cooked in veggie broth, then mixed with tomato sauce, chick peas, and chipotle peppers! :)
Wow that looks great!
I really enjoyed it, although I made it with collards instead of spinach b/c I think spinach gets too wilted when it braises. That’s just a matter of personal taste though. :)
Totally agree about sundried tomatoes. One of my favourite ingredients! Your food always looks so amazing.
Oh yum!!! I love sundried tomatoes…so intense in flavour! Im going to try this tonight!! Thanks!!!
Hope you like it!
I love sun dried tomatoes, too bad my husband can’t eat them, but he loves basil, so maybe this combination will be a winner in our house!!
This looks fantastic!!! I love pesto in all of this delicious permutations :D
I bought sun dried tomatoes at my health food shop the other day and they contain no sulphites (used to help preserve dried fruit and is in some wines) the brand is Ceres Organics, they are a dried tomato and are dark in colour but they still look good, I will be using some to make this pesto which sounds delish
Sundried tomatoes are super easy to make in a dehydrator!
I love sundried tomatoes, I love pesto, so I how could I not love this?? Awesome recipes!
I was the same way with avocado. I started eating them on a trip to California in 2008 and couldn’t stop (we won’t talk about what that does to your bathroom experiences… LOL!).
Gorgeous looking dish! I love SDTs. I even began adding a little of the “juice” from them in regular basil pesto.
same exact thing with avocados… minus the whole mexico part. But seriously, once I actually tried them I realized my hate for them was completely made up in my mind!
This looks amazing! I wish you were here to cook me up a batch of this right now! :-) This looks like a super easy, great weeknight meal that you can make over and over again. I can’t wait to try this.
Ooh and I like your new picture. :)
I made this original version, but wonder what you reckon to roasting the garlic first? Do you think it would enhance or impede the flavour? I only ask as even though I love love love garlic, sometimes it upsets my tummy when eaten raw….
I am craving pasta now!!
I think roasted garlic would taste amazing. I think that’s what I did in my roasted tomato pesto recipe if I recall. :)
Oh this sound amazing!! I’m a huge fan of pesto, so I’m sure I’ll love this variation. Can’t wait to try it out!
Oh yum! I love sun-dried tomatoes and this looks right up my alley! I never make pesto though…my husband is allergic to tree nuts, peanuts, and sunflower seeds, so I never know what to sub in.
To be honest this pesto tastes good even without the nuts at all. The addition of walnuts was more of an afterthought than a main ingredient.
I love sundried tomatoes! This looks fantastic!
I make all of my own sundried tomatoes every year – I buy a big bin of tomatoes at the farmer’s market during tomato season, put them in my dehydrator overnight, and voilá! They taste just like the real thing and last me all year! I can also make them raw if I want. I’m sure you could also make them in the oven.
I can’t wait to try this in my dehydrator!!
Yum! That looks delish. My husband recently discovered sun-dried tomatoes and has been eating them a few times a week; I bet he’d like this dish! I realized that I like them even more than before, too, which works out well for both of us. :)