Red Pesto Pasta

Red pesto pasta with sundried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, and cream is rich in flavor and texture but so easy to throw together quickly.  This simple pasta is perfect for weeknights or whenever you’re short on time but still want something delicious!

Red pesto pasta is basically a sun dried tomato pesto with cream that we came up with on a whim.

It always amazes us how some pantry basics like pasta, sundried tomatoes, and pine nuts, combined with cheese and cream can really make for an EASY and outstanding meal.

This red pesto pasta is great by itself, or alongside some baked artichoke hearts with breadcrumbs or even a simple green salad.

How to make it

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. Grate a 1/4 cup of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
2. In a dry pan over medium-low heat, toast 2 tablespoons of pine nuts until golden and fragrant (about 3-5 minutes).  Give the nuts a toss or stir throughout to prevent burning.  Watch carefully the whole time as pine nuts can burn very easily.  Once toasted, remove the nuts from the pan and set aside.

3. Drain 8 ounces of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes over a bowl and reserve the oil.  To a blender or food processor, add 1 clove of garlic, the sun-dried tomatoes, the pine nuts, and a 1/4 cup of the sun dried tomato oil.  Blend together until incorporated adding extra olive oil as needed.  Once blended, add in the Parmigiano Reggiano and mix together.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and begin to cook your pasta until al dente.  Be sure to reserve 2 cups of pasta water.  In a large pan, saute the red pesto over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Add 1 cup of heavy cream and bring to a simmer.  
6. Once simmering, turn the heat down to low and wait for the pasta to finish cooking.

7. Add the pasta along with a 1/2 cup of pasta water to the red pesto cream sauce and give it a toss.  
8. If needed, add a little more pasta water a bit at a time to loosen it up.  Taste test and season with salt and pepper to taste as needed.  Serve with additional grated Parmigiano Reggiano and enjoy!  

Top tips for red pesto pasta

• The oil.  We love the flavor the oil from the sun dried tomatoes imparts on the dish but that being said, feel free to use regular extra virgin olive oil instead.  
• The pasta. We used fusilli with the sun dried tomato pesto because every now and then we like to change up the shapes.  We often use rigatoni and penne in many other dishes and both would be fine here, as would bowties or any other medium-sized pasta. As with most of our recipes, we recommend reserving pasta water to help loosen up the red pesto if it becomes too dry.
• The pine nuts.  Pine nuts, or pignoli, can be expensive at times but we often keep them on hand and consider them a staple for Italian-American cooking.  Trader Joe’s will often have good prices on them but if it’s not in your budget, you can try substituting with walnuts which are a little cheaper.

More sun dried tomato recipes

If you like red pesto pasta with sun dried tomatoes, we think you’ll love these other recipes!

• Spinach sun dried tomato pasta – angel hair and fresh baby spinach tossed with sun dried tomatoes.
• Sun dried tomato chicken – thin chicken cutlets and spinach with a creamy sun dried tomato sauce.
• Pasta salad with sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts – this simple pasta salad is perfect for summer!

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