• ½ cup packed basil leaves
• ½ cup toasted pine nuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• Zest of half a lemon
• Scant ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup oil-packed sun dried tomatoes
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese
• ¾ cup olive oil

Drain the sun dried tomatoes of excess oil.

In the bowl of your food processor, pulse the garlic a couple of times. Add the basil, pine nuts, zest, salt and drained sun dried tomatoes. Pulse until coarsely chopped.

Add the cheese and pulse to evenly distribute.

With the food processor running, drizzle olive oil through the feed tube until you end up with a thick paste. Taste, and add a bit more salt if necessary.

This recipe will make more pesto than you need for the recipe. Don’t worry; it will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator. Sun dried tomato pesto is also very versatile.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Use some as a topping for bruschetta.
• Whisk some in to a vinaigrette.
• Add it to spaghetti sauce or even pot roast.
• Mix with an equal amount of unsalted butter and top a steak with it.

Enjoy!