I wonder what "Pesto" means anyway? Uncooked, blended-up, pasta topping? Whatever it may mean, this was delicious.
ROASTED RED PEPPER PESTO
3 large red bell peppers, roasted *
4-6 unpeeled garlic cloves (4 medium-size or 6 smallish)
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parsley leaves, packed
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese (use fresh, not the dried-out powdery stuff)
1 tsp. dry thyme leaves (or 1 Tbsp. fresh)
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Place garlic cloves into a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Toast them about 7 minutes, until they darken in color.
Remove garlic from the frying pan and peel. [You can snip off the root-ends of each clove with scissors and then just squeeze the garlic out by pinching from the top of the clove.]
Cut the roasted red peppers into about 2-inch pieces.
Put all ingredients into a food processor (or blender, if you don't have a food-processor) and process until smooth. [I did mine 1/2 at a time, because my processor is small. Also, it won't get 100% completely smooth. Just smooth-ish.]
Stir in salt and pepper, to taste
Now it is ready to serve over the top of your favorite pasta. I served mine with additional parmesan for sprinkling on top. :-)
Makes about four servings—depending on how much you like with your pasta. I think this would also make a marvelous sandwich spread to go with roast beef.
*To roast red bell peppers:
Slice off the tops and bottoms of the peppers.
Cut down one side of the pepper and spread the pepper open.
Remove seeds, and remove stem from top of pepper.
Lay all the pepper pieces skin-side-up on a baking sheet.
Place under a hot broiler and cook until the skin blackens—about 5-7 minutes. You may need to rotate the pan every now and then to make sure all the pepper pieces get blackened.
Remove from oven. Place peppers into a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap; let sit for 15 minutes.
Peel the skins from the peppers.
Now they are ready to use. Yum!
(They're delicious on sandwiches, too!)
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