This easy sun dried tomato pesto recipe is super delicious and can be used in many different ways!

You need a food processor and just a handful of ingredients to make the most delicious pesto Rosso. Pesto Rosso is a sun-dried tomato pesto from the Trapani area of Italy. It makes a bright pesto with a deep red hue.

Use this flavorful condiment in many different meals. 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.

The ingredients

This homemade pesto is very simple, but it’s important to use good quality ingredients to make the pesto sauce shine. You can find the ingredient amounts in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. Here is a rundown of what you will need.

A jar of sun-dried tomatoes. – Tangy, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes are full of flavor. Sundried tomatoes are dried tomatoes. They are preserved in oil and they bring a concentrated tangy flavor and great color to the pesto.
Fresh thyme. A little fresh thyme compliments the tomatoes well. Substitute with fresh basil leaves, oregano, marjoram, or rosemary if you have no thyme.
Walnuts. Toasted walnuts add texture. Substitute with pine nuts, almonds, or macadamia nuts. For a nut-free version, you can use sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
Lemon zest and lemon juice. Adds a little freshness and acidity. Subsitute with with balsamic vinegar if you have no lemon.
Extra virgin olive oil. Good quality extra-virgin olive oil brings the pesto together.
Parmesan cheese.
Fresh garlic cloves.
A pinch of red pepper flakes. Or use black pepper, or chili flakes.
Pinch of salt to taste.

Vegan pesto- To make this a vegan sun-dried tomato pesto you can substitute the cheese for nutritional yeast to bring some umami flavor, or simply leave it out.

Method

In a dry frying pan on medium heat, toast the walnuts for 3-5 minutes until toasted and slightly fragrant. Let them cool down to room temperature.

In a food processor combine all the pesto ingredients. Blend everything together until it everything is finely chopped. You may need to scrape down the sides of the food processor to ensure it’s all well-combined. For a thinner pesto, add a little extra olive oil.

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. For ease of use, divide the pesto Rosso 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.

Spread it over grilled chicken
Use sundried tomatoes in a butter board!
Use it as a pasta sauce and jazz up your favorite pasta.
Spread it over focaccia bread
Use in a pesto pull-apart bread
Add on it to sliced baguette and make bruschetta