Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto

Let's be honest here, I did not take this picture. I was so excited about eating this delicious pasta dish that I didn't think to take a picture of my own. Oops. So the photo credit for this one definitely goes to Angela.

BUT - original photo or not, you NEED TO KNOW about this recipe. It was so delicious. And healthy! I made it in my new Blendtec blender (which I LOVE, by the way) when I was so excited about it and just looking for ways to use it. I will definitely be making this again. The roasted tomatoes add such a depth of flavor to the pesto sauce - sweet and smoky and just amazing! We loved this and felt all fancy eating it.

Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto


9 large roma tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cup almonds, toasted
2 garlic cloves
1 cup tightly packed basil + more for garnish
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil + more for drizzling on tomatoes
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Your desired amount of cooked pasta


Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Place sliced tomatoes on the sheet and drizzle with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for about 1 hour and 10 mins at 400F. Watch closely during the last 15 minutes of roasting.

Reduce oven heat to 325F and toast almonds for 8-10 minutes. Add 1/3 cup into food processor and process until finely chopped. I left mine a bit chunky for texture. Remove and set aside.

With processor turned on, add 2 garlic cloves and let it whirl around until finely chopped. Now add in the basil and process until finely chopped.

Add in the oil, optional nutritional yeast, and 1.5 cups of roasted tomatoes (you will have tomatoes left over). Process until smooth. Pulse in 1/3 cup toasted almonds. Season generously with salt and pepper. I think I used about 1/2 tsp salt or a bit more.

Pour your desired amount of pesto over the cooked pasta and mix well. Chop the remaining roasted tomatoes and stir into pasta. Chop remaining almonds and Chiffonade the basil



Recipe from Oh She Glows.

Pesto Chicken Pizza

I will admit, I was real proud of this one. I needed to use up the last of this jar of pesto sauce from Costco and what do you know, I ended up making one of my favorite homemade pizzas of all time. (The winner would be a classic sausage margherita with homemade pizza sauce, fresh sliced mozzarella, fresh basil and spicy italian sausage, in case you were wondering.) This pesto pizza tasted like something from a restaurant. The oil from the pesto sauce sort of soaked into the crust during baking, making it brown up nicely and taste amazing. This smelled so divine coming out of the oven. I am a big fan of pesto and I just loved this pizza.

Pesto Chicken Pizza

1 batch perfect pizza crust
1/2-3/4 cup prepared pesto sauce (I get a great deal at Costco)
1 1/2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 small jar artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
2 chicken breast halves, grilled and sliced
1/2 sweet yellow onion, sliced


Preheat the oven to 500° F. (If you have a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven and use a pizza peel or parchment paper to transfer topped pizza to stone before baking.) Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal. Gently roll out the pizza dough into a large circle on a lightly floured counter top, leaving a thicker ring around the edge for the crust. Spread the pesto sauce in a thin layer evenly over the unbaked crust. Sprinkle with half the shredded mozzarella. Top with chicken, onion and artichoke hearts. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned. Let pizza cool for a couple minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Pizza crust from Annie's Eats.

Grilled Cheese with Pesto

Here's something you can do with that extra romano cheese and prepared pesto you bought from Costco when you made the Creamy Chicken Pesto. (You made it, right?) And heck you can use more of the romano for Stuffed Peppers! This sandwich tastes more gourmet than a regular old grilled cheese. Romano has this intense, sharper flavor. You don't have to use very much of it to get a nice kick.

2 slices whole wheat bread
romano cheese, thinly sliced
mozzarella (I used shredded, on hand from making pizza)
prepared pesto
butter

Easy, easy, easy. This isn't really a recipe. Put cheese and pesto between bread, butter outsides and grill. I wasn't planning on posting this until I was a couple bites in (note the picture) and realized, "Oh my gosh, this is DELICIOUS!" If you have the ingredients hanging around, you should definitely make this. I am so happy I discovered romano cheese. It's fantastic.