Red Pepper Pesto

White bowl with pesto and red peppers and noodles. A black fork in the bowl with grey towel.

5 from 4 votes

This red pepper pesto dish is elegant, flavorful, full of texture and will really uplift your next pasta night. Ready in under 30 minutes. You can smother this on crispy bread, over fish, chicken or mix it into your favorite pasta.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Course: Sauces & Dressings

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Author: Bailey

Equipment

small food processor 3-4 cup processor.

Ingredients

6 cups pasta optional for serving.
1 cup pasta water to thin the sauce and spread it with pasta

Red Pepper Pesto

1 15 oz jar roasted red peppers *see notes
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup sun dried tomatoes in oil
⅓ cup pine nuts *see notes
1½ cup fresh basil
½ tsp kosher salt
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
¼ cup parmesan *more for garnish

Instructions

If serving with pasta, start the pasta cook according to the package. Add all the pesto ingredients to a food processor.
Taste the pesto, ensure that it suits your salt level. Drain pasta (Be sure to reserve 1 cup of pasta water to mix pesto in!).
Add about 1 cup of pesto and half of the reserved pasta water to the pasta, mix well. If you want more pesto, add more, otherwise you can keep the leftovers for later.

Notes

*about 2 bell peppers if roasting yourself or a full jar, drained of pre made peppers.

*walnuts will also work.

If you have any leftovers, you can store in an airtight container for up to 4 days or keep in an airtight ziplock back in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Nutrition