Classic pesto is made with basil as the starring herb, but as I mention in my classic pesto post, pesto can be made with other herbs, greens or vegetables. Some that I make include garlic scapes, arugula, stinging nettles, and carrot tops. Here I use the formula with roasted red peppers.
Along with the star ingredient, you need to choose an aged cheese and a variety of nuts. For the cheese, I’m partial to Calvander from the Chapel Hill Creamery, because it is local for me and works really well in this role. But a Parmesan cheese is more commonly used. For the nut, I’m choosing almonds. This is a nod to the Spanish romesco sauce with which this pesto shares some characteristics. The main ingredients of romesco include tomatoes, dried peppers and stale bread, which are not used here. But romesco also includes almonds, garlic, olive oil and salt, which we do use here.
To bring a nice smokey characteristic to the pesto, the roasting happens on very high heat so the skin of the peppers gets charred. I usually do this on the grill, but it can be done in the kitchen directly over a gas burner or under a broiler. You can either cut and deseed the peppers before charring, or you can char the peppers whole, and deseed later. Immediately after charring, whichever method you choose, place the peppers in an airtight container and let them sit until they are cool enough to handle. The peppers don’t really steam in the airtight container, but somehow cooling them this way causes the pepper skins to release from the pepper flesh. You should find that you can easily rub off the charred skin after the peppers have sat with their own moisture. After the skins are removed, slice the peppers in half and use the back of a knife to scrape off the pith, seeds, and stem core.
Once the peppers have been prepared, everything else is really simple. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the pesto is at the desired texture.
Like most pestos, roasted red pepper pesto is quite versatile. Use it to sauce pizzas. Toss grilled vegetables in this pesto. Use it on crostini, spread roasted red pepper on the crostini and then top with tomato bruschetta or spread a layer of ricotta on the crostini and dab this pesto on top. Garnish pan fried fish with this pesto. So many options. If you have an idea, go for it!
Roasted Pepper Pesto
Equipment
- Food processor.
Ingredients
- 1 lb red sweet peppers
- ¼ cup almonds
- 2 ounces aged grating cheese by weight. see note
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Prepare the peppers
- Char all of the skin on the peppers. This is easiest to do on a very hot grill, but it can also be done directly over the burner of a gas cooktop or under a broiler.
- Move the peppers to an airtight container when they are charred. Let them sit until they are cool enough to handle.
- Rub charred skin off of the peppers and discard. Expect to see some dark discoloration under the skin. Also, if a little bit of charred skin remains on the peppers, that is fine. It will lend some more smokey nuances to the finished pesto.
- Slice the peppers in half and use the back of a knife to scrape the inside, removing the pith, seeds and stem core.
Use a food processor to make the pesto
- Either grate the cheese, or use a knife to dice into small pieces.
- Rough chop the garlic cloves.
- Place all of the ingredients in the food processor. Run the food processor until the pesto has achieved a pureed consistency.
