Pistachio Pesto With Sun-Dried Tomatoes
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Pistachio pesto with sun-dried tomatoes is a delicious, easy to make topping for bruschetta, or quick vegetarian pasta sauce. It also makes a great sandwich spread
Classic basil pesto is probably my favorite pasta sauce of all time. It’s probably the main reason I grow several basil plants in the summer. Grocery store pesto just doesn’t cut it. Besides, it’s such an easy no-cook dinner option, especially in the summer when it’s too hot to cook. (This post was originally published on June 9, 2014)
My mom and I went to a showcase house in Pasadena many years ago. One of the booths in the bazaar had the most delicious pistachio pesto with sun-dried tomatoes. Though it was wonderful, I wasn’t prepared to spend $12 on a 6 ounce container that would be used for one meal. How hard could it be to make myself? Pistachios, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil, cheese…I had it covered.
The taste testing lasted for two consecutive weekends. My tasters had the pesto on top of crackers, on bruschetta with goat cheese, straight out of the bowl, and finally, in a cold pasta salad that made it into school lunches for a couple of days.
Ingredients for pistachio pesto with sun-dried tomatoes
This recipe is based on my homemade Pesto Sauce. This recipe is made the same way, but pistachio nuts are substituted for the traditional pine nuts. You can omit the sun-dried tomatoes but it’s a fun twist on the basil pistachio pesto.
- 4 ounces loosely packed fresh basil leaves (This ends up being about 4 cups!)
- 1 1/2 ounces (1/3 cup) raw pistachios, lightly toasted
- 1/2 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) finely grated Pecorino Romano or parmesan cheese
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil plus additional olive oil if needed
- Kosher salt to taste
How to make pistachio pesto
Blanching the basil leaves: While this step isn’t necessary, especially if you’ll be eating the pesto right away, blanching the basil in rapidly boiling water for just a few seconds will keep it bright green and fresh looking. I always add the salt last and after tasting the pesto. The cheese is salty on its own, so decide once everything is added how much additional salt is necessary. Below is a shot of traditional pesto where the basil leaves have been blanched.
- Have a bowl of ice water ready to plunge the basil leaves into.
- In a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water, drop basil leaves to blanch, for just 10 seconds. Immediately remove the basil leaves with a slotted spoon and plunge into ice water.
- Drain and pat leaves dry. Coarsely chop.
- In a food processor bowl, add sun-dried tomatoes, pulse to coarsely chop tomatoes. Add chopped basil, minced garlic, and toasted pistachios, and pulse a few seconds to mix. It should stay somewhat chunky, so don’t over process.
- Slowly pour olive oil in a steady stream while pulsing a few more seconds.
- Taste sauce, and add additional olive oil, or salt if necessary.
Store in an airtight container with a thin layer of olive oil on top of the pesto in the refrigerator.
Using pistachio pesto as a pasta sauce
For 3-4 servings I use about 1/2 pound of pasta and about 1 cup of pesto sauce. I say “about” because you might want more or less depending on your personal taste.
- Choose your favorite pasta shape. I like a pasta that has lots of twists so the pesto doesn’t slide off. Fusilli or Cavatappi are good choices, but I’ve had pesto in Tuscany with Gemelli. Fresh pasta can be used as well, but be mindful that the cooking time is much less.
- Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil. (If you’ve blanched the basil before hand, just reuse that pot of water!) Cook pasta until al dente.
- Just before draining, reserve at least a cup of hot pasta water. Wait until the end, because it will have plenty of starch from the pasta, which helps give the sauce that creamy texture.
- After draining, return the pot to the stove and with the heat off, add some pesto sauce to the pot with some of the reserved water.
- Stir pesto sauce and hot water with a wooden spoon, then add back the cooked pasta, turning to coat, adding more pesto sauce and reserved pasta water as desired.
- Serve with additional fresh grated cheese.
Using pistachio pesto as topping for bruschetta
- Slice a baguette into 1/2″ slices.
- Brush each slice of bread with extra-virgin olive oil then rub each slice with a cut garlic clove.
- Place sliced bread on baking sheet and broil until lightly golden brown, watch carefully as it doesn’t take more than a minute or two on each side.
- It pairs well with this Goat Cheese Dip or as part of a Charcuterie Board.
Can you freeze pesto?
Yes you can! Preserve the delicious flavors of summer by freezing any leftover pesto. Fill ice cube trays with pesto and freeze until firm. Once frozen, transfer the cubes of pesto into a freezer bag. Use within 3 months of freezing.
Make it low carb!
Serve it on top of spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles for a low carb version!
Looking for more vegetarian recipes with fresh herbs?
Caprese Salad with Fresh Basil
Squash Casserole with Fresh Thyme
Mediterranean Rice Salad with Fresh Oregano
Pistachio Pesto with Sun-dried Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 ounces loosely packed basil leaves (about 4 cups)
- 1 1/2 ounces pistachios lightly toasted (about 1/3 cup)
- 1 1/2 ounces finely grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes drained
- Kosher salt to taste.
Instructions
Blanching the basil (optional)
- Have a bowl of ice water ready to plunge the basil leaves into.
- In a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water, drop basil leaves to blanch, 15 seconds. Immediately remove the basil leaves with a slotted spoon and plunge into ice water. Drain and pat leaves dry. Coarsely chop.
Making the pistachio pesto
- In the bowl of the food processor, add sun-dried tomatoes, pulse to coarsely chop tomatoes. Add chopped basil, minced garlic and toasted pistachios and pulse a few seconds to mix. It be a little chunky, so don't over process.
- Slowly pour olive oil in a steady stream while pulsing a few more seconds.
- Taste and add salt and additional olive oil if desired.
Notes
- serve as a past sauce or as a topping for bruschetta.
Beautiful! It’s a lovely combination, and so versatile!
Thank you Mimi!
I made the salad for a brunch I hosted on Sunday. Everyone loved it and two families took some home with them!
Oh, good Robin! Thanks for telling me!
I’ve been trying to recreate the Showcase House pistachio pesto for a couple of years! I couldn’t even find it this year (at the house on Arroyo?) I found one similar recipe but it is too tomato-y, although it is a summer staple in our house, especially when I can get sun dried tomatoes in jars for 5.00 Can’t wait to try it. Thanks thanks thanks.
Oh, good Suzanne! glad you found it, yes, the house on Arroyo. We love to spend time at those tasting booths!
My daughter and I brought home a jar of sun-dried tomato pistachio pesto from Florence, Italy, where we vacationed this past October. It was, quite possibly, the most delicious food in the entire galaxy. I knew there was no hope of finding it here in the US, although I optimistically searched every online store and local Italian grocery I could find. Then began the search for a recipe and, voila! Don’t know why it took nearly 3 months for this recipe to pop up in my search, but thank you, thank you for posting this! I am so looking forward to recreating not just the pesto but the whole Florence experience! It will surely bring back some very lovely memories!
So glad you found it Brenda! The internet is amazing with all the information at our fingertips. I hope you like it…at least you’ll have a starting point to tinker around with to try and find the exact flavor you remember.
I’m making this salad for dinner tonight. We love the warm bacon dressing! Thank you! The tea cup contest is pretty sweet too!
thanks!