Quick Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
This easy sun-dried tomato pesto recipe is super delicious and can be used in many different ways! You just need a food processor and just a handful of ingredients to make it. Toss it with cooked pasta as an easy sauce, add it to focaccia or use it on bruschetta. It’s a great make-ahead recipe.
About this recipe
This homemade pesto is very simple, but it’s important to use good quality ingredients to make the pesto sauce shine. I add in chopped toasted walnuts for texture, loads of tangy oil-packed sundried tomatoes and fresh thyme to complement the tomato. Parmesan cheese adds salt and umami flavour.
Just a few ingredients
Method
- Toast the walnuts until fragrant, then let them cool.
- In a food processor combine all the pesto ingredients.
- Blend everything together until it everything is finely chopped.
Storage
Store the pesto in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Long-term storage – Leftover pesto can also be frozen for up to three months. To make things easy you can divide the pesto into ice cube trays and freeze those. Once frozen, pop the cubes of pesto out and add them to a freezer-safe bag. This lets you grab and defrost the pesto as you need it.
Ways to use the pesto
Here are some ways in which you can use this pesto recipe.
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 65 g walnut halves
- 250 g sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice plus more to taste
- 50 g extra virgin olive oil or more as needed
- 50 g parmesan grated
- A pinch of chili flakes optional
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a dry frying pan on medium heat, stir and toast the walnuts for 3-5 minutes until toasted and slightly fragrant. Let them cool down to room temperature.
- In a food processor combine the sun dried tomatoes and the oil they're in, the thyme, garlic, lemon zest and juice, parmesan and chili flakes. Blend everything together until it everything is finely chopped. .
- While the blender is running, add in extra olive oil as needed until the pesto reaches your desired consistency. Taste and add any salt or lemon juice as needed.
