Roasted Peppers Pistachio Pesto

Blogging Marathon# 34: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Cooking with Capsicum/ Peppers

Dish: Roasted Red Pepper & Pistachio Pesto with Cheese Ravioli

Its time to start this month's Blogging Marathon, BM# 34. My theme for this week is 'Cooking with Capsicum/ Pepper'. I use bell peppers a lot in my cooking either to make a curry or sambar or  add them to rice dishes. So when I saw the theme, I thought I should try making some new dishes with peppers.

For the first day, I'm using store-bought roasted red peppers from the jar. You could roast your peppers if you have the time, but store bought ones are just as good to make this dish. Recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. 

Here pesto is made with roasted red peppers, toasted pistachios and the usual pesto ingredients, parmesan, olive oil and garlic. This can be used as a pasta sauce or as a sandwich spread or even a dip for some crudites and bread.

Ingredients:

Roasted Red Peppers - 1 14oz. jar, about 1½cups
Basil - 1cup
Raw shelled Pistachios - ½cup, toasted
Garlic - 2 cloves, unpeeled
Parmesan Cheese - 1½oz. (¾cup)
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 3tbsp
Ravioli/ Pasta - 1¼~1¾ lbs.
Salt & Peppers - to taste

Method:

• Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, fish out the garlic and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Peel and mince garlic.
• In the same water, cook ravioli as per package instructions. Reserve ½cup cooking water, then drain ravioli and return to pot.
• Drain the roasted peppers and pat them dry on paper towels.
• In a food processor, pulse garlic, red peppers, basil, parmesan and pistachios until finely ground, scraping down bowl as needed.
• With the processor running, slowly add oil until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Add 1 cup pesto to ravioli and gently toss to combine, adding 1tablespoon cooking water at a time, as needed, to adjust consistency.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 34.