Spaghetti with Sun-Dried Tomato-Almond Pesto

Got my Food & Wine magazine for September 2011 and totally lasered in on this recipe. I've done a bit of tweaking of the recipe, but it's pretty close, if you want to check out the original, click here.

This sauce is full of intense tomato & garlic flavors, plus the almonds add a great flavor plus a bit of protein too. The toasted breadcrumbs really add a nice texture crunch component on the final dish, so don't skip that step!  I'd just throw a couple pieces of bread into your food processor and pulverize into crumbs before you make the pesto sauce, easy - - - and you only have to wash the one time!

This pesto sauce (without the added pasta water) would be great on many, many things like chicken breasts, sandwiches, spread on crackers with goat cheese.  I saved half of the pesto and made the pasta dish with the other half.  I'm loving it.

Serves 6-8
Ingredients
1/2 cup oil packed sun dried tomatoes
1/3 cup salt & toasted almonds
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb. pasta, (vermincelli, spaghetti, linguine)
2 cups pasta cooking water, retained

In a food processor, pulse the tomatoes, almonds and garlic. Add 1/4 cup of the oil and puree until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

In a skillet, toast the bread crumbs in 2 tablespoons of the oil, stirring, until golden. Transfer the crumbs to a plate; season with salt and pepper.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid. In the pot, toss the pasta with the pesto, a bit of the  cooking water (see how the consistency looks and add more as needed) until the sauce clings to the pasta.  I found I needed quite a bit more pasta water that F&W said in their recipe.  

Transfer the pasta to bowls, sprinkle with the bread crumbs and parsley and drizzle with olive oil.

Yummy….

Need some other ideas for Spaghetti Squash? Here's some more:
Spaghetti Squash Carbonara