Easy Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce (Pesto Rosso)

Homemade sun-dried tomato pesto sauce is exploding with flavors and is very easy to make. Also called pesto rosso or red pesto it’s a vibrantly colored, deeply flavored condiment from Sicilian cuisine. Spread it over crostini, stir with marry-me chicken tortellini pasta or soup, and top it over fluffy scrambled eggs.

This variation uses sun-dried tomatoes, nuts (almonds), Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. For added flavor add red chili flakes for a mild kick.

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• Why this recipe works
• Ingredients
• Variations
• Step-by-step instructions
• Serving suggestions
• Storage
• Recipe FAQs
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• 📋Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Sauce

Why this recipe works

1. Very easy to make, ready in a jiffy.
2. Deeply flavored pesto that is tangy, sweet, and savory with mild heat.
3. Easy to customize to taste, use any nut of your choice.
4. Make ahead and store it in the refrigerator.
5. Drizzle over pasta or soups.

Ingredients

1. Sun-dried tomatoes: Best use the ones soaked in olive oil. I used dry-packed tomatoes as that’s what was available). Using oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes gives a richer, deep-flavored pesto. The red hue of the pesto completely depends on the type of sun-dried tomatoes you use.
2. Roasted almonds: use raw almonds not salted ones. I highly recommend you roast the nut in the oven or on stove top on a skillet until just roasted. Do not brown the nuts, keep a close eye, nuts turn from roasted to burnt in seconds. Roasted almonds blitz well.
3. Fresh basil: for that signature pesto flavor. Fresh basil leaves also add freshness.
4. Parmesan cheese: Always buy a Parmesan cheese block and grate it yourself. Pre-grated cheese from the store usually has chemicals to keep it lumping together and does not melt well.
5. Extra virgin olive oil: use the best quality extra virgin olive oil, pesto taste depends on the quality of ingredients.
6. Garlic: Don’t skip it or don’t reduce the amount.
7. Salt and Pepper: seasoning is crucial. Add salt and pepper as per taste.
8. Red chili flakes: optional, but I highly recommend them! Chili flakes add an extra flavor dimension to pesto sauce.

Variations

Pine nuts, walnuts, or cashews may be used as a substitute for walnuts.

Fresh basil gives the signature pesto flavor and taste. Basil can be substituted with fresh parsley or cilantro. Parsley pesto isn’t bad at all, cilantro might change the flavor of pesto sauce.

In some regions of Sicily, fresh ripe cherry tomatoes are used to make pesto called pesto trapanese. If you feel a little experimental use a mix of both sun-dried tomatoes and fresh ripe cherry tomatoes.

Step-by-step instructions

Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Serving suggestions

1. Stir with pasta: add pesto to pasta (along with a little pasta-cooked water) and stir well for a quick meal.
2. Soups: Drizzle pesto on top of soups such as white bean soup, minestrone, or creamy tomato tortellini soup.
3. Bread: Spread pesto sauce over sandwich bread or bruschetta.
4. Dips: Pesto sauce goes great as dips for pita bread or chips.
5. As stuffing: This pesto sauce can be used as stuffing for chicken breasts along with fresh basil. Tastes so good!
6. As pizza sauce: Feel a bit experimental? Spread it over your pizza instead of your regular pizza sauce!

Storage

Tomato pesto can be stored in air-tight container in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days. Spoon it into an jar with air-tight lid and then little olive oil on top before closing the lid. Make sure to store correctly. Use clean dry spoon when you want to scoop out fromt he jar and store it back into the fridge. If you notice any signs of spoilage like mould or smell discard the pesto.

Sun-dried tomato pesto freezes well too. I recommend freezing in a ice-cube trays, this way you can take required portions of pesto to use. Once frozen remove from the tray and store in freezer friendly zip-lock bags. Pesto can be stored in freezer for 6 months.

Recipe FAQs