Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Spread

In Israel, we are famous for our elaborate restaurant breakfasts with all kinds of dips, cheeses, eggs, bread etc. The first time I ever ate the tomato pesto spread I confess I was leery. I have an ambivalent relationship with tomatoes since if they are very acidic, I have a very mild allergic reaction to them, my tongue tingles (weird, what can I say). So I wasn’t keen initially. However, my mom and I pre-Corona would go out every Wednesday for breakfast and there was the tomato pesto staring at us. So we both said, what the heck, let’s give it a try. Big mistake, we were totally hooked. Even a little obsessed, no kidding. We would always ask the waiters for doubles of it and found our forks battling it out for who finished it off.

Since we haven’t been able to go out for a whole year, I have been trying to duplicate our faves from the restaurants we patronized and it was clear I had to copy the tomato pesto. It is so easy that I truly don’t know what prevented me till now.

Of course you must start with the most important ingredient, excellent sun dried tomatoes, not the kind packed in oil. I am lucky in that my local fruit and veg guy carries gorgeous sun dried tomatoes so boom I picked them up and got started.

Now you pour boiling water over the tomatoes to hydrate them. Let them sit until the water cools about 20 minutes or so. Drain the tomatoes. Set aside.

Place the spices, sugar (yes! sugar, don’t skip it, it’s a minimal amount but it balances out the acidity of the tomatoes) and crushed garlic into a food processor. Pulse briefly.

Add the two kinds of oil to this. I only do half olive oil since the flavor is powerful and you don’t want to overwhelm the tomatoes. The whole trick is balancing the flavors.

Okey dokey, now add the drained tomatoes and pulse, pulse, pulse till you get a chopped spread, not too rough chopped not too fine. If it’s too thick, add a bit more oil.

This is meant to be spread on bread, toast, eggs, heck on whatever you like pretty much but just don’t turn it to mush. Now you can elevate breakfast or any other meal or a snack.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Spread

3 cups, approximately, (300 grams) sun dried tomatoes
Boiling water
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh basil (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
1/4 cup (60 ml) canola oil

Directions:

Place tomatoes in a bowl and add boiling water to cover. Let stand till cool around 20-30 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Add all the spices and sugar and put in food processor and give a whirl. Add the oil and the drained tomatoes into a food processor and chop well together till a nice spread forms, not too finely chopped, not too coarsely chopped. If a bit too thick, add a bit more oil. Serve with breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner.