With so much incredible flavour, this sun dried tomato pesto is great on everything from pizza to pasta to toast and everything in between.
Also known as red pesto (or pesto rosso), this Italian pesto sauce is a condiment used raw or in cooked recipes.
- It can be swapped with basil pesto (green pesto) in any recipe.
- Punchy, rich flavour, full of umami.
- Quick and easy to make
I can never get enough of this delicious condiment. It’s the same pesto I use in my one pan chicken pesto pasta bake, and can also be used in place of the basil pesto in these pesto chicken calzone, easy salmon pesto pasta, or this chicken basil pesto pasta.
You may also love this Chunky Roasted Tomato Salsa and this Easy Homemade Pasta Sauce.
This recipe has been updated with new information and images.
Table of contents
Never Miss a Recipe!
Get the latest recipes straight to your inbox!
Ingredients in Tomato Pesto
So here we go, just 6 simple ingredients.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Sun-dried tomatoes (very important): You can use the jar type preserved in oil but make sure to drain them first. Here, I’ve used vacuum packed sun dried tomatoes. If you do use those in oil, you can use some or all of the oil in place of the olive oil in this recipe.
- Garlic: Make sure to use fresh garlic for the best flavour here.
- Pine nuts: Pine nuts are a classic in pesto but you can use others. Try almonds, cashews or walnuts.
- Parmesan cheese: It’s best to use parmesan cheese in block form and grate it yourself.
- Lemon zest: You’ll just need one lemon.
- Extra virgin olive oil: This adds the perfect flavour and helps to turn the pesto into a paste. Feel free to substitute with some or all of the oil, if you drained your sundried tomatoes.
Additions you can make: Try some jarred red peppers blitzed in for creaminess or some red pepper flakes (dried chilli) for a little spice.
How to make sun dried tomato pesto
This rich in flavour, red pesto sauce is incredibly simple to make.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Start by toasting the pine nuts. It’s technically optional but it does add a wonderful extra nuttiness and only takes a few minutes.
- Add garlic and drained sun dried tomatoes to a food processor (photo 1) or electric blender and process to roughly chop them.
- Add pine nuts, lemon zest and parmesan (photo 2) and blitz again to a fairly chunky consistency. I like mine a little chunky (photo 3).
- Now drizzle the oil in until while the processor is running until it’s all thoroughly combined.
You can choose how chunky you want it and even loosen the consistency by adding more oil.
How to use red pesto
There are so many ways to use sundried tomato pesto.
- Stir it through hot pasta – see salmon pasta with pesto and chicken basil pesto pasta for ideas
- As a pizza sauce or in calzone like this pesto chicken calzone
- Stuffed inside chicken breast or pork fillet before roasting.
- As a spread in sandwiches or over toast
- Mixed into salad dressing
- Over potato salad
- Mix it with cream cheese, sour cream or yoghurt for a dip
- Swirled through bread dough before baking or added to garlic bread.
- Mix through soups to give them a flavour punch. Try it with this roasted tomato soup.
- Add some into this easy homemade pasta sauce to make it extra flavoursome.
- Use it in a red pesto butter, then freeze for later use on cooked steaks, seafood or chicken or stirred through pasta.
The wonderful thing about this pesto is it can be swapped for basil pesto in any recipe that uses it. It is a slightly ‘drier’ paste than my fresh basil pesto or Celery Leaf Pesto, but you can add a little extra oil and / or a dash of water while mixing until it reaches the desired consistency.
Storage
This tomato should be stored in preserving jars in the fridge for up to 2 weeks without opening or 1 week after opening. It can also be frozen – freeze it in ice cube trays, then transfer the solid portions to an airtight container to keep for up to 3 months.
More recipes you’ll love
- Stuffed Pork Tenderloin– stuffed with an adapted version of this pesto and wrapped in prosciutto
- Chicken Penne Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes
- Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
- Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Pizza
- Sizzler Cheese Toast
- Roasted Tomato Soup with Mini Grilled Cheese
- Tomato confit
Did you try this sun dried tomato pesto recipe?
Leaving a rating and comment below the recipe is so helpful!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to the newsletter for free recipes straight to your inbox. Also, follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Ingredients
- 1 cup, packed sundried tomatoes (drained if in oil) (170g / 6oz)
- 2 cloves garlic
- ⅓ cup toasted pine nuts (50g / 1.8oz) (notes 1&2)
- ½ cup parmesan (finely grated lightly packed) (40g / 1.4oz)
- zest of 1 medium lemon (roughly 2 teaspoons)
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
Instructions
- To toast pine nuts, place them in a dry frying pan. Toast while shaking the pan over medium heat. Remove from pan as soon as they are golden.
- Place the tomatoes and garlic in a food processor and blend until finely chopped.
- Add the pine nuts, parmesan and lemon zest and blitz another 20 seconds or so until incorporated.
- With the processor on low, drizzle in the olive oil until all incorporated.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Toasting the pine nuts: Place the pine nuts in a clean saucepan over medium heat. Cook, tossing regularly until you start to see them turning golden.
- Nuts: Feel free to use other nuts like walnuts, almonds, cashews or macadamias.
This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission for my referral, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Sugar Salt Magic.
5 Comments on “Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto (Pesto Rosso)”
I made this the first time a few days ago. Had an open jar of semi-dried tomatoes I wanted to use up. This had gorgeous umami flavour. Incredibly simple and versatile!
Thank you so much for sharing this.
I’m so happy you love it, Irene.
I absolutely love sundried tomatoes, this recipe is genius and so easy!
It’s super simple. Thank you Trang
Ideal ingredients, Irresistible !