AUGUST 10TH, 2009
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To celebrate the beginning of tomato season, Growing Chefs took the stage at the New York Botanical Garden’s Conservatory Kitchen. With the help of two young gardeners, Julia and Janine, we put together a child-friendly sundried tomato pesto. An easy recipe for young cooks, pesto is a great springboard to introduce new flavors (lemon basil, anyone?), knife-and-oven free cooking, and sneak tomatoes onto the palate of picky eaters. I cook nut-free when I’m in the kitchen with my students, but this recipe is flexibly delicious with traditional pine nuts, too.
Sundried Tomato Pesto
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup sweet Genovese basil
2 cloves fresh garlic (we used Rocambole)
1 cup marinated sundried tomatoes (ours were in olive oil and oregano)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, if desired
With a little bit of olive oil in the blender, add the garlic, basil, tomatoes, and cheese, in that order. As you add each ingredient, add more oil and pulse, using a soft spatula to push ingredients over the blade while the machine is off. Serve on julienned zucchini, over fried eggplant, in your eggs, on bread, or as you like. Add salt only if desired.
