Pesto Calabrese (Red Pepper Pesto)
Pesto Calabrese (red pepper pesto) - sweet, smoky chargrilled peppers (capsicums) in a fast and easy pesto.
Servings 12
Calories 65kcal
Ingredients
- 450 g chargrilled red peppers (capsicums) packed in water
- 3 fresh garlic cloves
- 70 g pine nuts ½ cup
- 30 g freshly grated parmesan cheese ½ cup
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves firmly packed
- fresh lemon juice to taste
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Drain the peppers (450g) well on paper/kitchen towel, then add them to the bowl of a food processor along with garlic (3 cloves), pine nuts (70g/½ cup), grated parmesan cheese (30g/½ cup), olive oil (2 tsp) and basil leaves (⅓ cup firmly packed).
- Process until finely chopped. You may need to scrape down the sides of the processor as you go.
- Once you have reached your desired consistency, add lemon juice and salt to taste.
Notes
- I have used chargrilled capsicums that don't have any herbs added and are packed in water, not oil. I wanted to add my own choice of flavours to the pesto.
- Because the peppers are packed in water, they need to be drained really well on paper/kitchen towel. This will help give the pesto a thicker consistency.
- I slice the garlic cloves in half and remove the core, this takes away that sharp onion-like flavour that's in that centre core or germ. See this post for more info on which recipes I recommend you core your garlic for.
Nutrition
Calories: 65kcal