Roasted Red pepper pesto

I am one of those people, who despite loving to eat healthy home made food, cheat every now and then by buying the store bought jars/canned food. I do not do it often, but I have one of those ready made stuff at home that I use when I am lazy and uninspired! Pesto is one those items that I buy from the stores once in a while. From quick pastas, sandwiches to pizzas, I use them in a number of recipes. It is my “Indian green chutney” substitute that I use for Italian/American recipes. This is my recipe for homemade red pepper pesto. I wanted to try something different with red pepper and used my 2 red peppers to make the pesto instead of making my red pepper pasta sauce as planned. The result was immense satisfaction in making home made pesto from scratch and some delicious pastas and sandwiches!

Ingredients:

• 2 red peppers
• 2-3 tbsp walnuts
• olive oil (I used garlic infused olive oil. substitute it with olive oil+1 garlic pod)
• 1-2 tbsp basil leaves (preferably fresh)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (optional)
• a pinch of chilli flakes or more as per spice levels
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Place the bell peppers in a foil lined baking sheet. Roast them in a preheated oven at 400 F for 40-50 minutes until the skin turns black/charred in some places.

Place the roasted peppers in a zip lock bag and let it sweat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, peel the skin and put the roasted peppers in a food processor.

Roast the walnuts until you get a nice aroma. Add them to the processor along with the red peppers.

Add the basil, chilli flakes, 1-2 tbsp olive oil, seasoning (salt & pepper) and parmesan cheese to the processor and blend them until they become the consistency of a pesto.

Transfer it to an air tight container and enjoy with pastas, pizzas or sandwiches!