Are you looking for a recipe that will stimulate your taste buds?
If you’re lucky to live in Greece and have access to really fresh organic vegetables and home-produced Feta cheese, it is so much tastier than the packaged stuff you find in supermarkets. You really should buy only Greek Feta, but of course, Balkan cheeses are similar and cheaper.
If you grow your own basil, this will enhance the flavour of the tomatoes and the finished dish. You can use your favourite pasta to go with the sun-dried tomato sauce.
Don’t fancy the almonds? Then go for roasted pine nuts instead and whizz them in a food processor. You can dry-fry the nuts in a frying pan to roast them.
This recipe serves three to four people, depending on how hungry they are!
Ingredients
8 oz pasta of your choice
half a cup (or 4 ounces) of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
20 large basil leaves, shredded
2 tbsps slivered almonds (not the salted ones)
2 tbsps grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced (optional
4 ounces of Feta cheese, crumbled
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
First cook the pasta in boiling salted water. I add a little olive oil to so that the pasta doesn’t stick together. Keep a cup of the water you cooked the pasta in.
Put the rest of the ingredients (except for the Feta) in a food processor and whizz them up until they are finely chopped.
Put the mixture into a bowl and stir in half of the water, adding more if needed.
Add the pasta and Feta to the bowl and toss well to combine all the ingredients.
If you like sun-dried tomatoes, why not make a pesto sauce with them?
Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
For two people you will need a four-ounce jar of sun-dried tomatoes which you can reconstitute by leaving them in hot water for 5 minutes.
You can use the pasta of your choice, but remember to reserve a cup of the water you cooked it in.
Ingredients
4 oz jar sun-dried tomatoes drained
20 large basil leaves (approximately)
1 garlic clove
2 oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Blend all the ingredients except for the Parmesan. Put this mixture into a bowl and stir in the Parmesan.
Add the pasta and as much of the reserved water as you wish.
Toss the pasta to coat it and serve.
Enjoy!
