Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Mmmmm, I can't begin to describe how good this pesto is, I just had some leftovers for my lunch and its even better than yesterday.

For some reason we ended up with 4 red peppers in the fridge, I decided to roast them as I'm a bit fussy about raw peppers, in that I'm not really a fan and like them diced really small. Anyway, I cut the peppers in half, deseeded them, and lay them skin side up on a baking tray, I drizzled with a little oil and left them under a hot grill until they were really black and blistered, I then turned them over and grilled the underside a bit too, just because I like my roasted peppers to be really soft. Then its into a sealed tupperware to steam of the skin until cool.

Once cooled, I peeled the peppers and blitzed them with about a small bunch of basil, stems and all. We've got a basil plant in one of our window boxes that has just gone crazy, so I was pretty happy about being able to cull it a bit, also, check out our wormery in the background! I also added a small handful of toasted pine nuts and the same of cheese and a splash of balsamic vinegar. I didn't add any oil as the peppers are moist enough to lubricate the pesto. I must admit that in the absence of parmesan, I cheated and added mature cheddar too (you can't taste the difference).


Red pepper and almonds go particularly well and I have a feeling toasted almonds would be delightful in this pesto, but I have loads of pine nuts (always a nice position to be in) so pine nuts in was.

Either way, you end up with a slightly sweet and smoky pesto from the chargilled peppers. We had it on homemade gnocchi, it would be great on pasta, or with fish or chicken. I'm thinking now that chilli and perhaps coriander instead of basil would be good. Either way, make this and make it soon!

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