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.
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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.
I made this for dinner tonight. Everyone enjoyed it and ate it all including my 8 year old, picky eater. Delicious meal, as usual, when I cook recipes from your site.
yay that is great news!
Angela, this recipe was amazing. My boyfriend (who is pretty picky) loved this pesto and so did I :) I used pistachios instead of walnuts (since it was what I had on hand) and it turned out great! The bf has decided to have the left over pesto for dinner again tonight :)
So glad you enjoyed it Gwen! (Sorry for the delayed reply) :)
Summer basil = pesto.
In other words, DA BEST!
I just made this and WOW! is it good!
This looks so good! I made your roasted tomato pesto and loved it, and I’m excited to try this recipe too! I think the pesto would also be really good on spelt pizza with loads of spinach :)
I made this and it was incredibly delicious! I tossed it with Spinach filled ravioli but I can’t wait to use it as a dressing for grilled vegetables, as a dip for crostini next to a glass of red wine, as part of a summer antipasto platter – the options are endless! :)
On a side note – I somehow accidentally managedto drop my 1/4 cup measuring cup into my food processor after i drizzled in the olive oil. It was metal so I think it did a number on the blade of my food processor – maybe this will give me the excuse I’ve been looking for to buy a new one.
So glad you liked it Susan! Sorry to hear about your food processor blade!
This pesto is awesome! I had raw cashews on hand, so I substituted those for the walnuts. I will definitely make this again! Thank you for sharing, I really enjoy your blog!
We made this for dinner tonight but used sundried tomato basil spaghetti and added some sauteed cherry tomatoes .. It was amazing!!
Not-So-Pro-Tip: If you don’t have time to soak your tomatoes you can get them set up in the soaking water for a few minutes, then microwave them (still in the water) for about 20 seconds. It’s like a fast forward.
This pesto is SO GOOD!! I ate it on lightly-sauteed julienned green and yellow squash. My mom took a bite on her way out the door to dinner and said she’d rather stay in and eat the pesto! It was super quick & easy to make; I’ll definitely be making this over and over again. Thank you!!!!
hah love to hear that!! I cant wait to try it over julienned zucchini too.
I am new to vegetarian/vegan dishes– I am not a total convert but I do meatless meals for my family. I am trying to understand what is nutritional yeast and what is it for.
Thanks—-
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made this for dinner last night for my parents and they loved it. It now will become a staple in my kitchen! I am new to your site and I can’t wait to try your other recipes!!!
It just tried this last night and it is wonderful, quick, and easy! I added mushrooms to mine as usual. I may add even more veggies the next time. It probably won’t make my regular rotation of meals since I tend to avoid pasta and oil most of the time. Two things that make me put on weight very easily!
It is so good we put it on raw spiralized zucchini (somebody also made it with sauteed julienned zucchini) and we use soaked sundried tomatoes and then use the water from the tomatoes were soaking in – no oil! So yummy!
Did you make the bread you paired with this pasta? If so, will you share the recipe? It looks phenomenal! =)
Sadly no, it`s from a bakery ;)
Hi, i was just wondering how many people this serves? is it just one? :) it looks delicious! thanks x
We had this for dinner the other night with some tomato basil bread from Panara. Everybody loved the pasta, we will be having this one again and again, thanks for the recipe!
Can you also serve this dish cold?
Made it tonight…delicious!! Thank you!
Hi Angela,
I made this recipe this week. I must say this is one of the best dinners I’ve had in a long time. Just delicious and I did not miss the meat for one minute. I’m not vegan but looking for healthier things to fill my diet. This is great! I had the left pesto on a sandwich today.
Thanks,
Lori
I made this last night and it was AHmazing! Such a great flavor-can’t wait to try the roasted tomato pesto tomorrow night! Thanks for all of your amazing recipes, Angela. I pretty much exclusively cook from yours! As someone relatively new to the vegan kitchen, it has been so great.