I never knew red pesto even existed until I stumbled upon it in my digging around the Interwebs for keto recipe inspiration. While regular pesto is green due to all the herbs, red pesto gets it’s colour from the inclusion of concentrated forms of tomato, and occasionally some form of peppers bringing in bright acidic flavour and a little spice. In my recipe, I used sun-dried tomatoes, double concentrated tomato paste, along with chipotle peppers, as well as the usual herbs, seasonings and extra virgin olive oil. I did go with a combination of macademia nuts and cashews over the usual pine nuts though for a slightly different flavour profile.
Keto Red Pesto Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 teaspoons anchovy paste or 3-4 canned anchovy fillets (*Or use capers for vegetarian/vegan.)
- ½ cup roasted macadamia nuts
- ¼ cup cashew nuts
- ½ cup Parmigiano-reggiano, grated (*Or other hard Italian cheese like Pecorino Romano or Grana Padano.) (Use homemade vegan parmesan for vegan.)
- 3 tablespoons double-concentrated tomato paste
- 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 cup fresh basil
- ½ cupextra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt (like Maldon or Fleur de sel, for garnish
Directions:
Add the oil, basil, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, nuts, anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes, chipotle peppers, salt and tomato purée into a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Add your chosen grated cheese. Pulse again 3-4 times. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
When done, use immediately or spoon the mixture in a glass jar, top with a bit of olive oil and seal properly with a lid.
Did you make this keto red pesto recipe? If so, please let me know how it goes in the comments. Or if you share pics of your creations on Instagram, please tag me so I can see them. Enjoy! :)
