Pesto with dried tomatoes

What's better than a full-bodied and tasty seasoning for your pasta, like the one given by dried tomato pesto?

When it comes to finding simple ways to season pasta you are always in a bit of difficulty and end up falling back on the usual recipes. Yet very little is often enough to make a pasta dish tasty and satisfying, perhaps by seasoning it with our dried tomato pesto. To prepare it, in its basic version, you only need 5 ingredients and less than 15 minutes , just enough time to retrieve everything from the pantry and blend.

The best-known version is Sicilian dried tomato pesto, prepared with almonds, basil, garlic, oil and obviously dried tomatoes (in oil or rehydrated). However, it is possible to add oregano or capers to make it even more aromatic, or cheese for a truly tasty pesto that is also excellent on bread. But let's see together how to prepare it!

How to prepare dried tomato pesto with the simple recipe

1. First, soak the dried tomatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes .
2. Then drain them and pat them dry, then put them in a food processor fitted with blades and add the almonds , the peeled and cored garlic , a few fresh basil leaves, 1 pinch of salt and turn on the appliance.
3. Blend, adding the oil little by little, until you obtain a smooth but not too creamy consistency. A distinctive note of dried tomato pesto is its rusticity .
4. If necessary, add salt, otherwise you can immediately use it as a condiment.

Variations and preparation tips

Use this pesto to season your favorite pasta shape (even egg pasta), diluting it with a little pasta cooking water but without heating it in the pan: the ideal would be to put the desired quantity in a large bowl, add the water in order to dilute it and then mix it with the pasta.

If you want, you can also customize this sauce according to your needs:

• You can use dried tomatoes in oil instead of the more classic ones. In this case you can avoid the passage in water, however you will have to squeeze them well from the oil and reduce the total amount that you will use in the preparation.
• You can add 50 g of grated cheese , to make it even more delicious on the palate and similar to the classic version of pesto.
• Finally, you can replace the almonds with pine nuts, or decide to use both, halving the doses of each.

In short, you will have understood that we are talking about a truly versatile recipe and then, if you love this ingredient, you will love pasta with dried tomatoes !

Conservation

This pesto can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days by placing it in a container with a cap and covering the surface with a layer of oil. It is also possible to freeze it , preferably already portioned, for 2-3 months.

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