Boy, I have to say, this was one hard week. I have been trying to update my blog and with every change came a roadblock. Thankfully, my husband came to the rescue and was able to solve the big issues. As my way of thanking him, I will stuff him with a giant bowl of this amazing sun-dried tomato pesto pasta with burrata tonight. Ever since we came back from Italy, we have been eating pasta at least once a week and it's been amazing. To keep things interesting, I decided to make a sauce out of sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and toasted walnuts, also known as, sun-dried tomato pesto. Toss the penne in the pesto, top with creamy burrata, and fresh arugula and you have one incredibly delicious meal!
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta with Burrata
Ingredients
Sun-dried tomato pesto
- 7 ounces sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
- ½ cup walnuts toasted
- ½ cup fresh basil
- ¾ cup parmesan grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup olive oil
Pasta
- 12 ounces penne
- ½ cup reserved pasta cooking water
- ¼ cup parmesan grated
- 8 ounces burrata
- 1 cup fresh arugula
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Make the sun-dried tomato pesto. Blend together 7 ounces sun-dried tomatoes with the oil, ½ cup toasted walnuts, ½ cup fresh basil, ¾ cup grated parmesan, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon black pepper until smooth.
- Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add 12 ounces penne and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid.
- Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the reserved cooking liquid and pesto, stirring until well combined. Add the pasta and grated parmesan and toss together to coat the penne in the pesto. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer until the cheese has melted and the sauce has coated the noodles. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove pasta from heat. Portion into bowls and top with burrata and fresh arugula. Serve immediately.
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
I love a good pesto. Believe it or not, it can be hard to find premade pestos that are the real thing. Besides, why buy the premade sauces when you can make it exactly how you want it? My favorite pesto is my ultimate walnut almond basil pesto, but this sun-dried tomato version is a close second.
To make the sauce, blend all of the ingredients together until relatively smooth. In order to have the best pesto, buy the best quality parmesan, the freshest basil, and toast those walnuts!
Since this sun-dried tomato pesto pasta is very simple, you want every ingredient to be top-notch. I always buy bronze die pasta because the texture is phenomenal. The bronze die is considered "a cut above" because the rougher surface helps sauces stick better to the noodles. Every bite is perfectly coated in sauce, making the pasta an absolute star.
Cook the pasta until al dente and toss with the sun-dried tomato pesto and reserved pasta cooking water. Season with more parmesan, salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Because you know if you're going to the length of using the best ingredients, you might as well use freshly cracked black pepper.
Portion the sun-dried tomato pesto pasta and finish with that creamy burrata and fresh arugula. Just a tip, take out your burrata at least 30 minutes before serving to bring it up to room temperature. I recently found out that burrata should not be served cold, who knew!
I think my husband was very much pleased with this dinner. How can you go wrong with creamy burrata, fresh bitter arugula, and savory, nutty, and tart pesto pasta? I think we're about even now, that is, until my next blog coding disaster.
For more sun-dried tomato love, check out this sun-dried tomato pesto swirl bread!
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