Tomato Pesto

My vegan friend Jennifer got me hooked on the fabulously beautiful blog Vegan Yum Yum, which I totally recommend, though it makes my messy blog look like a third grade craft project entirely created in blue-green crayon. Among the fabulous recipes, I must thank Lolo for teaching me how to chop an onion correctly so that I can now enjoy hacking into those tearjerkers as much as I love eating them. She also has some fab tips on food photography, which, as you will note, I am not so good at taking to heart. In any case, despite how inept this online masterpiece makes me feel, I love her blog and book (aptly entitled VeganYumYum) so much, that I really can't feel bad for long.

So, as I was writing, one of my few vegan friends sent me a link to a magically quick and creamy recipe for Tomato Basil Cream Pasta. I loved it, but in a quick pinch to replicate it one day when I was too lazy to turn on the computer to seek it out anew, I came up with this Yum Yum inspired tomato pesto that had me going for seconds! Plus, this is a really rich way to take care of those tomatoes that are just about ready to go.


TOMATO PESTO

Ingredients:
3 large tomatoes quartered and squeezed of seeds
1/2 C pine nuts
1/4 C sun-dried tomatoes
1/8 C fresh basil
2 cloves garlic chunked
2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt

• Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in boiling water for about 15min to rehydrate.
  
• Add all ingredients into a food processor and process until well integrated but still chunky.
• Mix with your favorite pasta!
  

I loved this recipe and found myself counting down the seconds until leftover lunch the next day. So, whip up some of this and start checking out the much more refined culinary creative force of Lolo's version!