Sun-dried tomato pesto pasta is rich, punchy and ready in a flash! An easy weeknight dinner with red pesto, parmesan and basil.
Ingredients
THE TOMATO PESTO
- 1 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes sliced – notes 1. (200g / 7oz / or around 300g/10½oz including the oil)
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup pine nuts or other nuts notes 3 (50g / 1 ¾oz)
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese finely grated lightly packed (20g / ¾oz)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾-1 cup sun dried tomato oil / light flavoured olive oil notes 2
THE PASTA
- 400 g penne or rigatoni pasta
- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts extra
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves torn or finely chopped
- Extra parmesan for serving
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- food processor
Instructions
- Put a large saucepan half-filled with water on the stove top over high heat and bring to a boil. Salt it well.
- TOAST THE PINE NUTS:Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Place the pine nuts onto a baking tray and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes until golden and smelling nutty.
- Tip: You can also toast them in a dry frying pan over medium heat, tossing regularly until golden.
- Transfer pine nuts to a plate or bowl to stop them cooking.
- COOK THE PASTA:Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions.
- TO MAKE THE TOMATO PESTO:Make sure you've measured the tomatoes without the oil but reserve the oil for the pesto. If your tomatoes did not come in oil see notes.
- Place the tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and salt into a food processor and blend until finely chopped.
- With the processor on low, drizzle in ¾ cup of oil until all incorporated. You can add another ¼ cup of oil to adjust the consistency without making it too oily.Tip: Thickness can be adjusted by blending slightly longer or adding a dash of water. If adding to pasta, using a little of the pasta water to help distribute it through the pasta.
- Drain the pasta, through a strainer over a cup so that you can save some pasta water.
- Add the pasta back to the pan along with the tomato pesto and a dash of pasta water. Stir well until the sauce is fully heated through, adding pasta water as needed to loosen and help the sauce to coat the pasta.
- At this point you can further customise by adding ½ cup of cream or a good handul of baby mozzarella balls.
- Serve immediately with basil, extra pine nuts and extra parmesan.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Sun-dried tomatoes: It’s best to use sun-dried tomatoes in oil – they’re softer, and the oil can be used in the pesto, adding even more amazing flavour. If you can only get dry-packed or air-packed sun dried tomatoes, soften them first to make it easier to blend them, by soaking them in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and dry thoroughly before adding to the food processor.
- Oil quantity: You want a minimum of ¾ cup of oil (or up to 1 cup, to your preference). Use the oil that came with the sun dried tomatoes and top that up using a light flavoured olive oil.
- Nuts: Feel free to use other nuts like walnuts, almonds, cashews or macadamias.
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Nutrition information is approximate only and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use and any changes you make may cause variations.
