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Robin Ward

Easy Pesto Rosso Pasta Sauce: Delicious, Versatile, and Healthy

Easy Pesto Rosso Pasta Sauce: A bold twist on classic pesto with sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, Parmesan, and pine nuts. Bursting with vibrant, rich flavors and effortlessly healthy!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: #maincourse, dinner, lunch
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz jar sun dried tomatoes in olive oil (*see note)
  • 1 cup basil leaves
  • ¼ cup pine nuts
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 2 cups tagliatelle or fettucine pasta, cooked (7 to 8 oz. dry) (I love Strozzapreti Emiliani too!)
  • 1 cup reserbed pasta water
  • salt and pepper to taste

Equipment

  • mini food processor or high-speed blender

Method
 

  1. Combine sundried tomatoes packed in oil, basil leaves, parmesan, pine nuts, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (*see note)
  2. Boil pasta and reserve 1 cup of water.
  3. In a medium or large skillet, add the pesto and add 2 tablespoons of pasta water at a time until sauce has reached desired consistency. Likely, you will need around ½ cup of pasta water.
  4. Swirl the pasta in the sauce and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

*Stop at this point and store the pesto rosso in a sealed jar in the refrigerator if not using immediately. It will keep for 3–5 days. Ready to explore other delicious uses? There are a few ideas in the blog above this recipe printout. 
 
*If you're using dry-packed tomatoes, you may need to add a little extra olive oil to the food processor to make the sauce smooth.
 
Nut free? Yes! You can use shelled sunflower seeds instead of almonds to keep this pesto nut free. You can also try white beans. While they won't give you the crunch of pine nuts, they will add a nice creaminess to the pesto.
 
Vegan? Yes! Some variations of pesto rosso don't use any cheese so you can simply leave out the parmesan. Another option would be to substitute nutritional yeast for the cheese.
 
Homemade is better.  You can find prepared pesto rosso at the grocery store. It's sold either as pesto rosso or sun-dried tomato pesto. However, I think that homemade is best! With homemade pesto rosso, you can use fresh, quality ingredients and you know exactly what's going into your food.