Erin Scott/The DM
As a long-time resident of the West Coast, I will often grocery shop and want to cry out in the middle of the refrigerated section, “I miss my Trader Joe’s!”
One of the products I kept on hand almost constantly was their premade sun dried tomato pesto.
I could come home starving and have a meal in the time it took to boil water and cook pasta.
It was more of a complete meal when I was able to sauté some veggies and warm up some precooked chicken to add to my pasta and pesto.
This recipe uses a food processor, but in my undergrad days, I was known to use the blender my parents gave me.
This recipe is just a suggestion, so add more or less according to your taste or modify according to what you can find in the store.
You will need:
2-3 cloves of garlic
8 1/2 ounce jar of sun dried tomatoes
1/3 cup walnuts
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Italian herbs (I splurge and buy a tube in the produce section) or 1/2 cup basil leaves
Pinch of salt and pepper optional
Erin Scott/The DM
To do:
In the bowl of your food processor, pulse garlic a few times to chop them up.
Add sun dried tomatoes with oil to food processor, along with walnuts, the basil or Italian herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper, if you like. Pulse again until the mixture is thoroughly chopped. You may want to take a spatula and work down the sides of the food processor bowl. Taste and add to taste.
Add the Parmesan and pulse until the cheese is evenly distributed.
Eat or store in the fridge and use for up to a week.
This can be added to spaghetti sauce, used on cooked pasta alone, spread on toast or used as a topping for bruschetta. This also goes well with cooked steak, baked potatoes or other cooked veggies.
Erin Scott/The DM
