Penne with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

🧂 Ingredients

• 1 lb penne pasta
• 10 oz sun-dried tomatoes in oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch white pepper
• 2 tsp dried sweet basil

  you can use fresh
• ½ cup parmesan cheese

  divided
• ¼ cup walnuts
• ¼ olive oil

  more or less depending how thick or thin you like your pesto

Instructions

• 1 Fill a large pot with water and place over medium-high heat on the stove. Bring
  the water to a boil. Add salt generously. Add pasta and cook for 1 minute less
  than the package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water in case you want to
  add it to the dish later. Set that aside.
• 2 While the pasta noodles are cooking you can toss your sun-dried tomatoes, the
  oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, the garlic, salt, white pepper, sweet basil,
  half of the parmesan cheese, and walnuts in a food processor. Pulse until
  smooth. If the mixture is still too thick add a touch of olive oil to start and
  pulse while adding the oil until you get the desired consistency you like. It's
  always best to start with a little, you can always add more but you can't take
  away. So go easy initially and add oil to taste if needed.
• 3 Transfer pesto to a large skillet or non-stick pan and heat on medium heat just
  before adding the cooked noodles. Then use a slotted spoon to lift out the
  noodles and transfer them to the large skillet or non-stick pan. Do not rinse
  the noodles.
• 4 Toss the pasta together in the skillet or non-stick pan. Start by adding about ¼
  cup of the reserved pasta water and then toss the pasta again. If you need more
  pasta water to thicken the pasta you can add until you get the desired thickness
  you like. I added almost all of it to mine to thicken it.
• 5 Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl or tray.
• 6 Grate freshly grated parmesan over top.
• 7 Serve with a big old pasta loving smile!

Nutrition Info