What a treat! My friend let me raid her garden and I walked away with a stash of fresh cherry tomatoes, green peppers, mini red peppers, thyme and a huge bouquet of sage. I didn’t know what to do with that much sage, so she sent me off with her sage pesto recipe. I can’t even describe how insanely delicious this is.
The cherry tomatoes were little sugar bombs on their own, but roasting them doubled down on the sweetness. I had to make some adjustments to the pesto recipe as I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand, but I’m extremely happy with the result. Her recipe calls for 1 cup of pine nuts and a ½ cup of Italian flat leaf parsley. I substituted a combination of pine nuts and pistachios as well as arugula. I think you can use whatever you have in your fridge and come out with an amazing dish.
While the roasted tomatoes will make enough for about 4 servings of salad, the pesto recipe makes a large batch which you can freeze or refrigerate. To keep it from browning, you may want to place a thin layer or lemon juice or olive oil over the pesto.
For those following Dr. Fuhrman’s Eat To Live plan, this dish complies with the Life Plan as long as you don’t use too much pesto – about 2 tablespoons should do it. For the Weight Loss plan, leave out the olive oil and substitute with just enough water to achieve desired consistency. One serving is about 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of pesto which counts as your 1 ounce of nuts for the day.
Ingredients (served about 4)
2 pints cherry tomatoes
1 tsp. fresh thyme
½ tsp. dried rosemary – chopped
salt & pepper to taste
Pesto Ingredients (makes about 15 – 20 servings)
½ cup pine nuts
½ cup pistachios
1 ½ cups fresh sage – well packed
½ cup baby arugula – well packed
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped garlic
juice of one lemon
1 tsp. salt
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut tomatoes in half and place on a baking sheet either lined with parchment or lightly coated with cooking oil spray. Sprinkle with thyme, rosemary, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt.
3. Place sheet in oven and cook for 15 – 20 minutes. Then place under the broiler for another 3 – 5 minutes until tomato skins start to brown.
4. Place all pesto ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula.
5. Arrange a bed of arugula on serving dishes and cover with roasted tomatoes. Either place pesto in a side serving dish or drizzle over the salad.
6. Serve immediately while tomatoes are warm or later when chilled.
Caitlin @ teaspoon says
Sage pesto! I would have never thought about that, but it sounds delicious. I love pistachios too. Can’t wait to try a new (and dairy free!) pesto!
Caitlin @ teaspoon recently posted…Aeschbach Chocolatier Tour
Amy says
Thanks, Caitlin. I know, I didn’t think pesto could be made without some kind of cheese, but I actually like this better!
cheri says
Hi Amy, I have sage coming out of my ears right now, love this pesto. What a great friend.
cheri recently posted…Fava Bean and Corn Risotto
Amy says
She’s definitely the best. This is a great way to use up all of that fresh sage. I might have to go raid her garden again!
Annie says
In love with these photos – the colors are just gorgeous! And the salad sounds wonderful, too :-).
Annie recently posted…Virtual Vegan LINKY Potluck 12
Amy says
Thanks so much, Annie!
Amy says
Thanks for the shout out, Poppy!