Homemade Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Surprisingly quick and easy to make for something that feels elevated and adds big, bold, instant flavor to your favorite Italian-inspired dips, pastas, pizza, sauce, and soup. Grab a jar of sun-dried tomatoes, obviously, plus pesto basics like basil, garlic, and Parmesan, and you'll have this blitzed together in no time. This batch yields approximately 1 and 1/3 cups of pesto total.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/4 cups sun-dried tomatoes oil-packed but drained, see note
- 1 and 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves loosely packed
- 3 cloves garlic peeled but whole
- 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts toasted if possible
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients except olive oil to the bowl of a food processor. Blend until thoroughly combined.1 and 1/4 cups sun-dried tomatoes, 1 and 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, 3 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 Tablespoon tomato paste, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- As the motor is running, pour in 1/4 cup of the olive oil and blend until well-incorporated. Add more olive oil only to adjust the consistency as desired.1/4 to 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Sample and adjust seasoning to taste. Use right away, or store in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!
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Notes
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: It doesn't matter whether you use whole or julienned sun-dried tomatoes for this, since the food processor will break them down to tinier bits just the same. You'll find oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes in jars of varying weights, and the volume of tomatoes inside will also vary; in my experience, any jar in the 6-8.5 ounce range is likely to yield enough tomatoes for the 1 and 1/4 cups called for here. I typically just use the whole jar and adjust the other ingredients as needed or to taste.
- Food Processor: If you need a good food processor, I recommend this one; it's a work-horse!
- Make by Hand Option: Finely mince the tomatoes the old-fashioned way, then use a mortar and pestle to grind them together with the rest of the ingredients into a somewhat smooth paste.
- Use in Pasta: I recommend stirring roughly equal parts of this pesto and starchy pasta water into drained, warm pasta. This loosens the pesto just a touch without watering it down, so it clings to the pasta and adds a big punch without you needing to add so much that it overpowers everything.
- Storage: Covered tightly, this pesto keeps for about a week in the fridge.
- Freezing: Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Pack tightly in a freezer-safe container and remove as much excess air as possible to keep it tasting as fresh as possible. Defrost in the fridge or on the counter as needed.
- When Ready to Use Again: Set the pesto on the counter for a few minutes and give it an extra-vigorous stir when using again; you want to reincorporate both any solidified olive oil and the exposed top layer, which loses some flavor through oxidation, so it isn't concentrated in the first few bites.