Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Pesto

Have you ever had a recipe that started off as one thing but then slowly morphed into a different form? Usually when this happens for me it is because I am somewhat lazy, er efficient that is…

That is what happened to my eggplant parmesan recipe. It started off as fancy individual stacks of goodness, inspired by ones that we used to purchase at Mercato market in downtown Calgary. Then one day I decided that all that breading and frying and stacking seemed kinda unnecessary, especially if I was just making the dish for family. So, I deconstructed it and turned it into a much simpler layered casserole.

One of the ingredients which over time has become essential to this dish is a tomato pesto from President’s Choice.

Being me, I looked at the ingredients one day recently and thought to myself  “Self, this wouldn’t be hard to make at home, and you could remove any ingredients that you don’t like or can’t pronounce”. Now as it turns out there are not that many ingredients in the store-bought version that are disagreeable, just the sunflower oil. So, in a pinch it is still a go-to.

I happened to have a big bag of red peppers and some frozen roasted tomatoes though so I decided to give making my own roasted pepper and tomato pesto a try. It turned out pretty well and now I’m itching to make some eggplant with it! I think it would probably be great tossed with some hot spaghetti squash too, or even as a dip for veggies.

The peppers need to be roasted first so they were cut in half, cored and then flattened onto a baking sheet. Tossed into a hot oven, they come out slightly charred and ready to peel.

Since the tomatoes were already roasted and in the freezer (you could also use jarred sun-dried tomatoes), they were just weighed and dumped into the blender. I had to photograph them though as the ice crystals make them look like sugared candy of some sort. Pretty.

I had some really fabulous, well aged cheese from Luc’s European Meats and added a bit of aged parmesan as well. Some fresh basil that has been growing surprisingly well on my counter brought fresh bright pesto flavour to the final product.

I set some aside for immediate use and then used my handy large cube silicone ice tray to freeze the rest for mid winter.

Oh eggplant, where are you when I need you?

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Pesto

Author: www.miasdailydish.com

The perfect pesto to layer in an eggplant parmesan stack or casserole, this pesto would also be great on spaghetti squash, pasta or as a simple veggie dip.

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Ingredients

• 1 lb about 4 medium red peppers
• 1/2 lb roasted tomatoes 1/2 C of sundried tomatoes would likely work here too
• 1 C. grated Grana Pedano cheese
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 C packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 C pine nuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Halve and core red peppers. Place them open-face down onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and gently squash with the heel of your hand to flatten. Roast for approximately 30-40 minutes until beginning to blacken
3. Remove peppers from baking sheet and dump into a paper or plastic bag. Seal the bag and let sit for 10 minutes. Gently peel the skin from the peppers. Don't worry if you don't get all of the skin off, especially if you are using a high powered blender
4. Place pine nuts in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Toast, shaking the pan often, until lightly browned. Watch carefully or they will burn.
5. Place all ingredients into a high powered blender or food processor, pulsing until mixed but still slightly chunky.
6. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the refrigerator, or freeze in usable portions