Homemade Sun-dried Tomato and Pesto Recipe
This recipe shows you how to make your own sun-dried tomatoes, which you can then make into sun-dried tomato pesto. If you just want to make the sun-dried tomatoes, just stop after step 7 and store the tomatoes in a jar covered in oil in the fridge. They will store for up to 2 months.
Ingredients
For the Sun-dried Tomatoes
600g Cherry Roma Tomatoes
3 Tablespoons of Rapeseed Oil
2 teaspoons Dried or Fresh Oregano
Salt and Pepper
Extra for the Pesto
50 g Pine nuts
50 g Parmesan Cheese – Finely Grated
1 Clove of Garlic
1 Bunch of Basil
150ml of good quality olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Juice of 1 Lemon
Sundried Tomato Cooking Time – 2 Hours + 3 – 4 hours cooling time
Pesto Prep Time – 10 mins
1. Preheat oven to 140 degrees Celsius
2. Halve all the cherry tomatoes and place them, cut side up, in a baking dish.
3. Sprinkle oregano over tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
4. Drizzle the oil over the tomatoes.
5. Place the tomatoes in the oven and cook for 2 hours.
6. Turn off the heat but leave the tomatoes in the oven as the oven cools. Leave them in there until the oven has cooled down completely.
7. If you just want to make sun-dried tomatoes, place the tomatoes and any oil from the pan into a clean, sterilised jar. Pore enough olive oil into the jar to cover the tomatoes. These will last in your fridge for up to 2 months and are great on salads or in a pasta.
8. If you are making the pesto, skip step 7 and place the sun-dried tomatoes into the blender.
9. Add the finely grated Parmesan, garlic, pine nuts and basil to the blender. With the blender going, add a fine stream of olive oil until all the ingredients are combined into an oozy consistency, with all the ingredients fully chopped and combined.
10. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and season with salt and pepper. Give it one more quick blast with the blender.
11. Serve this on top of a Frittata (see Recipe here) or mixed through pasta with fresh Ricotta (see Recipe here)
Once you have made your own pesto you will never go back to the jarred stuff! Store the leftovers in the fridge for a speedy pasta dinner or to top a piece of chicken or fish. YUM!