Red Pesto Sauce
Home-Style Sun-Dried Tomatoes
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Red Pesto Sauce is a multi-purpose condiment that I try to keep in the refrigerator at all times. I use it for bruschetta, pasta and rice. It is a pungent sauce bursting with the flavors of sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herbs, fragrant oil and wonderful salt-cured olives. Its robust flavor is unmistakably Italian and its complex simplicity is a delight to the palate. This sauce is an attention getter and not for the faint of heart. While I make this with a home-style version of sun-dried tomatoes, commercial versions can be used with only a slight loss of flavor. The technique for sun drying tomatoes was developed in Italy as a means of storing tomatoes for the winter. Fresh tomatoes were placed on tile roofs and dried by the blazing sun. I'm including the oven drying technique I use to make the sun-dried tomatoes for those who are curious or are as crazy as me. The pesto will keep for up to a month if refrigerated and filmed with a layer of olive oil. Here are the recipes for Red Pesto Sauce and Home-Style Sun-Dried Tomatoes.
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.
You might also enjoy these recipes:
Thai Cucumber Relish - One Perfect Bite
Watermelon and Black Bean Salsa - One Perfect Bite
Blueberry Salsa - One Perfect Bite
42 comments :
The pesto sauce looks wonderful! I'm thinking of planting some roma tomatoes in our garden this year just so I can have some oven-dried :)
This looks delicious. I have planted many tomato varieties & hope I have enough to try this. Yummy!
Beautiful bite of summer, that.
both those recipes look wonderful! I'll have to try the sun-dried tomatoes this spring :)
This recipe will be handy this summer when the romas start coming in. Thank you.
Love the pesto too. I can almost taste it.
I've never made tomato pesto-- will have to try it soon -- but I have dried tomatoes -- when romas are plentiful . . .
Romas are one of my favorites! I wish I could plant about 4 dozen of them!
Thanks for sharing "Tea Party" with me Mary. I have cried and cried since reading of "Mom's" passing yesterday. What an incredible journey that blog is.
Ok that is SO COOL! Drying your own tomatoes rocks! I will be doing this, and soon thanks so much
Oh wow this has my name ...
delicious... I cannot wait until the tomato are ready to do some.... this is an awesome recipe my friend... thanks so much for sharing
I think that is so awesome that you make your own sun-dried tomatoes! I have a recipe for sun-dried tomato crusted turkey somewhere that I need to dig out...you reminded me of it!
Faint of heart, I am not. A lover of all things tomatoes, I most certainly am! This looks delicious. I can see just how useful it is.
I can taste the wonderful herbs and flavors just looking at it!
I have been meaning to oven roast tomatoes in the oven for ions and now you have given me the push I need.
You serve such lovely food on your blog and keep me coming back for more!
Ciao, Devaki @ weavethousndflavors
Ummm I love sundried tomatoes and this sounds like something I have to make!
This sounds heavenly!! Love pesto and SD tomatoes! Yum!
Mary, beautiful homemade pesto sauce, I wish i can try out this soon.
Home made sun dried tomatoes and sauce looks so good and so yum...wonderful recipe mary.sure to try this one...& take care and have a nice day
That's a really beautiful pesto. The ones I have seen are green. Pesto is still quite a new thing to me. Need to learn how to use it apart from adding to pasta.
We love dried tomatoes and I was glad to see your recipe. But after reading on, I realised you mentioned 6 - 12 hours of baking! I'll continue to get store bought while enjoying your beautiful pics.
Your red pesto sauce look absolutely appetitising.
I make sun driesd toms in the oven too and they sure are super delish, i sprinkle a wee bit sugar on them for a sweety touch and herbs for herbed sun dried toms...love the way urs look here ....
Red pesto is something playing on my mond for a while now and love that u pinged me with suc deliciousness now ....
Mary, pestos are a refrigerator staple here too. Your pictures are just wonderful as always. We are planting our first NC tomatoes now- I keep wondering how anything grows in this red clay!
xoxo pattie
Hi, I felt in love with your red pesto sauce and I am taking it home with me.
Many thanks, great recipe
The sauce looks delicious. I haven't roasted tomatoes like that in ages--I am going to have to start doing that again--they look so good. ;-)
This is such unique flavour! Must have to try to make some pesto some day. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Mary. Have a nice day! Cheers.
This sounds amazing. And looks so vibrant and impressive. So perfectly finely chopped. Would be amazing on some toasted bread. MMM thanks for sharing!
wow this pesto looks amazing - what a great idea to add sun dried tomatoes. I bet this goes with SO many things, pastas, chicken, pizza, etc. yum!
Don't you just love sun dried tomatoes... they make everything so rich tasting without gobs of fat! Love that recipe Mary...
This looks amazing!! Look forward to great tomatoes this summer for this one!!
ottimo questo pesto! complimenti!! ciao!
I've made a red bell pepper 'pesto before but never one using sun dried tomatoes (I went through a sun dried tomato phase where I oven dried plum tomatoes and packed them in olive oil. They still went bad..go figure..lol). Yours looks positively vibrant and beautiful..not to mention delicious. Bookmarked :)
I love sun-dried tomato pesto and make it often. have never put olives in it - love that! It really jazzes it up.
This just looks amazing....I have to try it. I have many of Patricia Wells books, but somehow missed this.
Thanks!
Oh Mary, I love these both!! :-) I've wanted to make my own sun-dried tomatoes and that pesto looks just fantastic. :-) By the way, we made your Limoncello recipe at Cooking Group last night!!! It smells so good! :-)
Oh wow this looks amazing! I can't wait to try it!!
Well doesn't that look delicious? Super photo, Mary. I would love to try this...so good on pasta and toast like bruschetta.
I love pesto and make it all the time shen my fresh herbs are around. This is such a neat idea to make it with roasted tomatoes; can almost taste it with your grat photos.
Rita
I've never seen such a thing, looks wicked good though!
The red pesto sauce looks pretty! I've never tried the red one.
Amazing color looks so thick. I love ite. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Mary - Just today I was thinking of making my own sun-dried tomatoes. I'm very glad to see you post about it. So many recipes call for the sun-dried tomatoes and they are so pricey in stores. This is a gorgeous sauce!
It sounds amazing with bursts of summer in every bite.
I absolutely adore sun-dried tomatoes and your recipe made me so happy!
They are usually expensive, but if I can make it at home....problem solved!
really liking the sound of this recipe- will make my own sun dried tomatoes this summer- we have several varieties that should work- noticed you had some other recipes I need to check out- crossing my fingers that we will have lots of red bells this summer.thanks for visiting my blog- you have gorgeous photos
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