Sundried Tomato Pesto for Presto Pasta Night 167!

I love briny, acidic flavors like olives, vinegar and full bodied red wines. When I need a quick go-to pantry dinner I often throw this one together because I always have olives and sundried tomatoes on hand.

While pesto usually calls to mind Genovese basil pesto, pesto actually means "pounded" and that is what is essentially happens with this one, only in a blender. This pesto can be made in the time it takes the pasta to cook if you set the sundried tomatoes to soak in boiling water 15 minutes ahead of time. I used Moroccan oil cured olives since the extra oil helps reduce the use of additional olive oil.

This is my submission for the 167th Presto Pasta Nights which I'm hosting this week. I've already gotten several submissions and am looking forward to many more. If you're interested in participating, please email me a picture of your dish, a link to your website and a link for your submission to kirstenmlindquist (at) gmail (dot) com and send a cc to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com.Thanks to Ruth of Once Upon A Feast - Every Kitchen Tells its Stories for conceiving and running this fun blog activity, it's quite an achievement!


Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta

10 sundried tomatoes, rehydrated in boiling water for 15 minutes
10 Moroccan oil cured olives, pitted
1 large garlic clove
1/2 cup olive oil, divided in 2
pinch red pepper flakes
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons parmesan, grated
1/2 lb rotini pasta
1 tablespoon capers (optional)

Place tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of soaking water, olives, garlic, and 1/4 cup olive oil in blender or small food processor and process until smooth. Add cheese, salt, red pepper flakes and remaining oil and process until fully blended. Cook pasta as directed and drain. Spoon 2 tablespoons of pesto into pasta and mix well. Stir in capers if desired.

Hugs!