How to Make Sicilian Red Pesto, and Jar your own Sundried Tomatoes
Two pesto, a jar of tomatoes in olive oil, And a series of ideas on how to use them.
I’ve been making both these pestos in my tiny café kitchen in France, to serve as a tapa - usually slathered on focaccia with some Grilled Marinated Zucchini on top, and generically calling it pesto rouge.
Funnily enough, I had archived this very Sicilian recipe away in the back of my head until I found out about the French’s obsession with tomates sechées (sundried tomatoes) and tried the most amazing pesto de tomates sechées made by the wonderful hands of Yoan, a guy with a tapenades and olives stand I met when I stopped by utter chance in Boisset-et-Gaujac, a tiny village not far from Anduze in the Gard department, as I was on my way to the Tarn.
His modest stall features plastic containers full of the simplest varieties of basic things to spread on bread. In those plastic boxes, he packed all the best flavors of Provence.
Of all the tartinades (French word that describes all things spreadable, from tapenade to Nutella) I tried in this country, I still think his are far superior than any other I’ve ever tried. I don’t know what it is that makes them so special, but I know they make a good reason for a detour. From the road I must drive to get from home-Italy to home-France, Anduze makes for at least a good one hour further north, and I still think it’s totally worth it.
I would die to ask him the recipe for his delicious tartinades, but every artist has their own secrets and I’ll be happy to stop at his stall whenever I pass in that borderline, beautiful area between Provence and the heart of Occitania.
People often come to the kitchen to ask what I put in this or that other recipe. The answer tends to be nothing much, and this is always true. I’ll list the ingredients, and state that you just have to let your one main ingredient shine.
I figured that Yoan’s tartinades must follow the same principle. He told me he had worked as a chef in Paris for a number of years, before getting tired with the city’s and the kitchen’s tough rhythms, and moving down to the countryside to start his own little market stall. Someone who worked in kitchens in Paris must indeed have a series of tricks up their sleeve.
And yet.
I’d bet anything that his recipes feature no weird or secret ingredient - just honest to god, simple, quality basics. And, likely, lots of olive oil.
So, while I was trying to crack the code behind Yoan’s creations, I rememebred the existence of these pestos. They are amongst the recipes that sparked most interest amongst my clientele, and one of my best focaccia toppings. Having learned about the French’s love for sundried tomatoes, I bought a large bag of them from the Apulian guy at our local market in my hometown and packed them in my bags for France, so I could make this special pesto well before tomato season (which came really late here, as it rained throughout June).
As you can see, the list of ingredients is really the same a regular pesto. The one main difference here is that I was inspired by Yoan to use sundried tomatoes rather than fresh, which sould be used in the traditional recipe.
This way, this becomes a pantry recipe that you can pretty much make year-round, mostly from ingredients you’ll have in the cupboard, and keeps longer in the fridge compared to its fresh tomato version. You can have a jar of it ready in the fridge to slather on sandwiches, focaccias, flatbreads or even use as a sauce for pasta - especially pesto Siciliano, which is absolutely incredible with short pastas like fusilli, farfalle or rigatoni.
And, if you ever find yourself in Anduze, and have a chance to visit its pretty market on Thursday mornings, or in Lasalle on Mondays, or in Boisset-et-Gaujac on Saturdays, look for the dark-haired guy with glasses selling olives and tartinades. He’s chatty and always smiling, and all his creations are worth a stop. Get some fresh bread, get some caviar d’aubergine and some picholine olives, maybe a piece of cheese, and enjoy.
Tell him Valentina says hi.
Difference between a Pesto Trapanese and a pesto Siciliano
While the two recipes are extremely similar, the main difference is that pesto Siciliano has ricotta added in, while pesto Trapanese does not. Pesto Siciliano also uses peeled almonds instead of pine nuts.
These two pestos are originally made with fresh tomatoes. Anyone who’s ever had a proper sun-ripened tomato from southern Italy will know how sweet, flavorful and intense in flavor these tomatoes can be, so replicating this pesto with store-bought tomatoes - often grown quickly under plastic tents, bland and watery, can definitely be a challenge.
My suggestion is to try and make this with fresh tomatoes only if you truly have access to sweet, flavorful tomatoes. Otherwise, making it with sundried tomatoes is a much better option. These pestos were born to make the best of wonderful ingredients native to Sicily - almonds, ricotta, small datterini tomatoes, and, being the tomatoes truly the key ingredient here, it’s important to really find the good ones.
If you can’t be bothered or are not available where you are, sundried tomatoes make for a fantastic pesto.
Stay tuned for a guide to fresh tomatoes coming soon!
You can use dried tomatoes from a bag, which you’ll have to rehydrate, or tomatoes preserved in olive oil from a jar, which is probably more expensive but ready to go and probably even tastier.
If you decide to use dried tomatoes from a bag, my suggestion is to boil them: for 125g dried tomatoes, use 1,5 liters of water. See recipe below.
For both recipes, we’ll be using 250g dried tomatoes, 2,5 liters water (don’t need to use a full 3 liters), 5 tablespoons of vinegar.
The vinegar is needed in case you want to jar them, or keep them longer in the fridge covered in oil. The acidity from the vinegar, and from the tomatoes themselves, will prevent any chance of botulism, which can develop in foods preserved in oil if not properly stored.
You can also rehydrate them in cold water, but they will take more time to rehydrate and will not keep as long in the fridge.
While I give full instructions for every possible step you might want to take, you’ll find instructions at the bottom of the recipe to really make this in 10 minutes and with as little cleanup as possible (see bottom of page).
YOUR OWN SUNDRIED TOMATOES PRESERVED IN OLIVE OIL
Just in case you want to make your own jar. Makes a big one.
250g (about 3 packed cups) sundried tomatoes
A few dried thyme sprigs, or dried thyme leaves
2 teaspoons of dried oregano if you have it
2 garlic cloves, sliced
A heaping tablespoon of chopped capers if you have them
A cup regular olive oil
Sunflower oil as needed
If you decide to use dried tomatoes from a bag, my suggestion is to boil them: for 125g dried tomatoes, use 1,5 liters of water. Add 2 tablespoons of wine or apple cider vinegar for each liter of water, so here you’d use 3. Boil them for 5-8 minutes, drain them and lay them on a strata of paper towels and dry them well before using. If not using straight away, you can store them in a tupperware or in a jar in the fridge, where they’ll keep for a long time - at least a couple weeks.
Boil the tomatoes as per the instructions above. If you decide to pack them in olive oil, make sure to dry them very well. I make a bed of paper towels and lay them on top, a bit distanced, then add another layer of paper towels on top, and leave them be for an hour or so.
Get a clean jar, preferably out of the dishwasher, and make an initial layer with some garlic slices, some of the herbs, and capers. Lay 2-3 layers tomatoes, add some oil, and repeat. The tomatoes will need to be covered in oil. I suggest you use a pickling weight to keep the tomatoes submerged. I kept them in the fridge successfully for over 2 weeks. The more the tomatoes infuse, the more the oil will absorb the flavors. You can then use the jar oil to make the pesto.
If you leave the tomatoes in the jar for over a week, you might want to remove the garlic as it will get a tad too strong.
If oregano and capers are too extra for you, you can even just do tomatoes, thyme and oil. If you want to keep it cheaper, you can use 100% sunflower oil - it will end up tasting like tomato anyway.
Give the tomato a good shake every now and then.
Avoid using fresh herbs like basil, as they turn rancid very quickly in the oil.
IF YOU WANT TO PRESERVE THE JARS FOR LONGER: you will have to boil them, like you’d do for jams. Make sure the lid is very tightly closed. You will have to put them in a pot where the jars can stay tightly packed together, tall enough that you can submerge them in water. You will have to bring them to a boil, and boil them for 15 minutes. Then let cool in the water, and take them out when cold. This way you will create the sous-vide. If you want to preserve them, it is paramount that you boil the tomatoes in vinegar water (step 1), as the acid prevents the botulin from forming. Rehydrating them in water will NOT work. Do not add any fresh herbs.
As a jar will keep in the fridge for a long time - even a month - it’s not worth doing this unless you make many jars. Just make sure tomatoes are always submerged in oil - there are specific weights you can buy for your jars!
PESTO TRAPANESE and SICILIAN with SUNDRIED TOMATOES
The original Pesto Trapanese is made with fresh tomatoes rather than sundried, but I made it with sundried once and fell madly in love with it. It makes for a quick recipe with mostly pantry items that you can just put together last minute. Keeps a long time in the fridge, especially if you cover it with oil.
Serves 2.
250 (about 3 packed cups) sun dried tomatoes, preferably preserved in olive oil, or rehydrated if using the dried ones - see recipe above
100g (cups) almonds, preferably peeled or skinless
50g (cups) fresh basil leaves, torn
1 fat garlic clove, or 2 if small - preferably pink garlic, roughly chopped
3 heaping tablespoons grated pecorino (Parmigiano or Grana also work)
Salt & pepper
Lots of olive oil, at least 250 ml (1 cup). Use the oil from the tomatoes too if you’re using tomatoes in oil. You can also do half olive oil and half sunflower oil.
SICILIAN PESTO VARIANT: 150g ricotta
If using almonds with skins and dried tomatoes, bring a pot of water to a boil - enough to contain the amount of tomatoes you have, and add a couple tablespoons of any vinegar. Boil the tomatoes until soft, and then boil the almonds for about 10 minutes. Dry the tomatoes well. While the tomatoes dry, peel the almonds. You can completely skip this step if using peeled tomatoes and sundried tomatoes in a jar (you also get the benefit of using the oil).
Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor. You might have to push down with a spoon every now and then, turn off the blender and stir, as it makes a rather thick paste. If the oil isn’t enough, you can add sunflower oil to loosen it up. You will get a nice, slightly grainy cream.
FOR THE SICILIAN PESTO VARIANT: proceed as above but also add the ricotta to the mix. You can also substitute pine nuts for the almonds.
HOW TO MAKE THESE RECIPES WITH THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF WORK POSSIBLETo really make this recipe in 10 minutes, use dried tomatoes from a store-bought jar, along with all their oil and aromatics. You can use regular unpeeled almonds if you don’t care about a bit of a grainy texture. Using pine nuts, or peeled almonds or, even better, boiled and skinned almonds makes for a smoother texture, but changes nothing flavor-wise.
Add all your ingredients to a tall glass or container, and use an immersion blender to blend it. You can do the blending straight in a tall glass jar, so that you will only dirty the immersion blender arm and nothing else. Follow the recipe for pesto Trapanese first, and then scoop half of it into another jar to store in the fridge, add the ricotta and blend. That’s it. 10 minutes tops and you only got one small kitchen item dirty.
Thank you for the recipe, I am salivating over the Trapanese version (but should and will try both, soon). Sadly, I have everything in storage so am savouring the day I can get my blender out and do this. Can't wait.
Great recipes thankyou! I dry my own tomatoes and the keep them in jars and do a smaller batches in oil. That way I only have a jar at a time in oil. Much easier for long term storage.