I am not ready to let go of summer yet! Don't get me wrong, Fall is my favorite season, but it seems to be creeping into summer earlier and earlier every year (kind of like Christmas decorations coming out in September)...craziness! The pumpkin craze has taken over the blogisphere and grocery stores already...especially Trader Joe's. I was in there on Sunday and found pumpkin-flavored items all over the store. I was so tempted to get them all, but knew it was too soon, just too soon!
Plus, there is still an abundance of summer produce available, so I quickly let go of any Fall cravings and continued on with summer! Tomatoes are still going strong, and several different types. I found some great Roma tomatoes and other small garden tomatoes and decided to make a pesto. Yep, you can literally make pesto with anything!
There are two ways I LOVE to eat tomatoes, raw, and roasted or charred. By roasting tomatoes, it brings out a hidden sweetness that pairs well with many flavors, including garlic, fresh thyme and pine nuts.
The weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous! Pure quintessential North Carolina weather at its best! It was definitely a sit-outside-all-day kind of day on Sunday...with pauses in between for football :)
I made the below pesto based on a recipe I learned in a cooking class at Whisk (highly recommend their classes by the way)! The recipe is super easy and pretty difficult to mess up. The pesto is great with crackers, crispy bread, cheese or even cucumber slices.
So as the Hubby and I prepare to say farewell to another NC summer, we plan on enjoying every last second of its beautiful and delicious bounty!
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
1.5 pounds Roma tomatoes, quartered
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled
1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with foil. Mix the tomatoes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, thyme and pinch of sea salt on the baking sheet. Throw on the garlic cloves and roast for 30-35 minutes, until the garlic is soft. If the garlic cloves are smaller, take them out around 20-25 minutes so they don't burn. Set the tomato mixture aside to cool. Peel the garlic cloves and add back into the tomato mixture.
In a small dry saute pan, toast the pine nuts over medium-low heat until fragrant and slightly browned. Quickly remove from the pan and let cool on a cutting board or room temperature surface. (Watch the pine nuts closely as they will burn quickly)
Once everything is cooled, blend the tomato mixture, pine nuts, remaining olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes and a bit more sea salt to taste in a food processor. Serve with a soft cheese, crackers or cucumber slices.
Plus, there is still an abundance of summer produce available, so I quickly let go of any Fall cravings and continued on with summer! Tomatoes are still going strong, and several different types. I found some great Roma tomatoes and other small garden tomatoes and decided to make a pesto. Yep, you can literally make pesto with anything!
There are two ways I LOVE to eat tomatoes, raw, and roasted or charred. By roasting tomatoes, it brings out a hidden sweetness that pairs well with many flavors, including garlic, fresh thyme and pine nuts.
The weather this weekend was absolutely gorgeous! Pure quintessential North Carolina weather at its best! It was definitely a sit-outside-all-day kind of day on Sunday...with pauses in between for football :)
I made the below pesto based on a recipe I learned in a cooking class at Whisk (highly recommend their classes by the way)! The recipe is super easy and pretty difficult to mess up. The pesto is great with crackers, crispy bread, cheese or even cucumber slices.
So as the Hubby and I prepare to say farewell to another NC summer, we plan on enjoying every last second of its beautiful and delicious bounty!
Roasted Tomato Pesto
Yields: 2 cupsPrep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
1.5 pounds Roma tomatoes, quartered
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, whole and unpeeled
1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
sea salt
freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with foil. Mix the tomatoes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, thyme and pinch of sea salt on the baking sheet. Throw on the garlic cloves and roast for 30-35 minutes, until the garlic is soft. If the garlic cloves are smaller, take them out around 20-25 minutes so they don't burn. Set the tomato mixture aside to cool. Peel the garlic cloves and add back into the tomato mixture.
In a small dry saute pan, toast the pine nuts over medium-low heat until fragrant and slightly browned. Quickly remove from the pan and let cool on a cutting board or room temperature surface. (Watch the pine nuts closely as they will burn quickly)
Once everything is cooled, blend the tomato mixture, pine nuts, remaining olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes and a bit more sea salt to taste in a food processor. Serve with a soft cheese, crackers or cucumber slices.
Love the second photo. Well done, you.
ReplyDeleteMy bad, first photo gets my top pick. Though all nice.
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