Patricia Wells has a recipe for Sundried Tomato Pesto. Really Good! I have made it a few times.
Make ahead. I use it as a dipping "sauce" as an appetizer. You can add crumbled feta. Serve over pasta or make lil bruschetta appetizers. I usually just use it as a dip. I use store bought sundried tomatoes and once I used dried spices, (would not recommend). The Salt Cured Olives are key. I tend to go on the heavy side with the red pepper flakes.
I guess in retrospect, you could add fresh basil to this.
Enjoy!
Best,
Barb
Red Pesto Sauce...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Patricia Wells
Ingredients:
1 packed cup fresh sun-dried tomatoes or 1 (3.5-oz.) package sun-dried tomato halves
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup salt cured black olives
1 tablespoon fresh minced thyme leaves
2 tablespoons fresh minced rosemary leaves
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in bowl of a food processor. Process until just emulsified, but still coarse and slightly chunky. Store, filmed with olive oil, in refrigerator for up to 1 month. Yield: 1 cup.
Home-Style Oven-Dried Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients:
5 pounds Roma tomatoes
Kosher salt
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
2) Trim and discard stem ends of tomatoes. Halve each tomato lengthwise. Arrange tomatoes, cut side up, side by side and crosswise on cake racks set on oven racks. Tomatoes should not touch each other. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
3) Bake until tomatoes are shriveled and feel dry, anywhere from 6 to 12 hours. The tomatoes should remain remain flexible and not be brittle. When dried, remove cake racks from oven and allow tomatoes to cool thoroughly. Store in zip-lock bags. Yield: 2 cups.
