Sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers give this pesto it’s vibrant RED color and rich complex flavor. Red Pesto or Pesto Rosso is a fun alternative to the more common traditional green pesto alla Genovese.
If you love traditional pesto chances are you’ll enjoy this variation. Fun to make, fun to eat! The word pesto simply means ‘to pound’ or ‘to crush’ in Italian. Which is exactly what we’ll do to create this incredibly versatile sauce. So versatile you can mix it into PASTA, stir into SOUP, us as a BASE for pizza or sandwiches, as DIP for crudité platters, a TOPPING for roasted vegetables or potatoes, a STUFFING for pork tenderloin, pork chops, chicken breast and SO much more.
WHAT IS RED PESTO?
Red pesto or Pesto Rosso is a thick flavorful red sauce that consists of fresh basil, garlic cloves, pine nuts, salt, Parmigiano-Reggiano sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers which are all blended together in a food processor or by using a pestle and mortar to create this versatile sauce.
WHAT INGREDIENTS DO I NEED TO MAKE RED PESTO?
You’ll need the following 8 KEY ingredients to make this pesto at home
- fresh basil
- garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil
- Parmigiano Reggiano
- pine nuts
- kosher salt
- sun dried tomatoes in oil – TIP: use part of the oil from the jar in place of some of the EVOO to add even more flavor.
- roasted red bell pepper
HOW DO I STORE PESTO?
Store pesto in a sealed airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I like to use these GLASS JARS . Top off the jar with a little drizzle of olive oil before sealing.
TIP – FREEZE pesto in ice cube trays, pop them out and transfer to a freezer bag to preserve them for future use.
MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES TO TRY
If you’re feeling inspired by this red pesto recipe, you’ll love these other recipes:
- Red Pesto Pasta Salad
- Pesto alla Genovese
- Salsa Roja
- Quick Pickled Red Onions
- Chimichurri Sauce
- How to Make Herb Cubes
Pesto Rosso
Sun dried tomatoes and roasted red pepper give this pesto it's vibrant red color and rich flavor.
Ingredients
- 2 cups lightly packed fresh basil
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano – grated
- 1 - 8.5 ounce jar of sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained.
- 1 roasted red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Into Food Processor add: basil, garlic. Pulse to combine.
- Add pine nuts, pulse to combine. Add cheese, sun dried tomatoes and bell pepper. Pulse to combine.
- WHILE food processor is pulsing GRADUALLY stream in the olive oil.
- Check for seasoning. Add salt to taste.
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