Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Almond Pesto

Recipe created by SheKnows on Mar 30, 2011
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Prep: 10 min
Cook Time: 12 min
Total: 22 min
Serving: 4 Servings

A simple and attractive pasta dinner dish that blends the buttery and nutty flavor of almonds with sweet tomatoes, fresh basil and sharp Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Ingredients

1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 clove garlic
1 handful basil leaves, about 1 cup packed
3 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
1 pound pasta, long or short

Directions

Cook the pasta ‘al dente’ according to package directions, drain and then return to the cooking pot.
In the meantime, place 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a small sauté pan and sauté the almonds for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
With the motor running, drop the garlic down the processor feed tube and finely chop. Add the almonds, basil, water, and 1/3 cup oil and process until the mixture is smooth. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a few pinches of salt and pepper and pulse the mixture unitl combined.
Place the remaining oil into a skillet over medium-high heat, add the tomatoes and toss to coat. Cook the tomatoes for 3 minutes and then stri in the pesto.