Pesto calabrese
This flavorful red pesto will make you forget basil pesto ever existed!
Servings: 4 servings of pesto
Ingredients
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1/4 large red onion (if the onion is small use 1/2)
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Quarter and deseed the red bell peppers, halve the onion, and remove the skin from the cloves of garlic.
- Broil the onion, garlic, and bell pepper on high for 5 minutes. Peel off any skin that is hanging off of the bell peppers. It is not essential that you remove all of the skin but I like to remove the parts I can easily get at.
- Add the almonds and parmesan cheese to the food processor and pulse until finely ground. Then add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and pulse for 2 minutes.
Notes
This pesto is not intended to serve as a pasta sauce by itself because it is a little dry. To make an easy red pesto pasta sauce you should combine some pesto and olive oil in a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio (depending on your taste preferences). I recommend starting with a 2:1 ratio of pesto to olive oil then slowly adding olive oil to taste. The reason we did not add the additional olive oil to the base recipe for this pesto calabrese is so that you have the option to combine this pesto with cream, alfredo sauce, or any other kind of sauce you have lying around.