sundried tomato walnut pesto

This is one of the items I brought to our neighborhood's block party on the 4th of July. Kirsten overheard someone attributing it to our neighbor across the street. The rice dish this particular individual brought was fantastic, so I will take that as a compliment!

This is a twist on my classic walnut pesto. There are three main variations:

1. I used purple basil instead of green basil which helped create the deep red color (it would work fine with green basil as well, will probably just end up browner).
2. The addition of sundried tomatoes packs a flavor punch.
3. The inclusion of cream cheese makes it super spreadable. The perfect cracker topping!

Here's what I did:

Sundried Tomato Walnut Pesto

Makes 2 cups

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 bunch purple basil

1 c. sundried tomatoes (I used dehydrated; if yours are packed in oil, you probably won't need to add any oil while processing)

1/2 c. walnuts

about 3 Tbsp. olive oil

about 3 Tbsp. cream cheese (I used a vegan substitute "Better Than Cream Cheese")

Process all ingredients in food processor until well combined. Add more or less of any of the ingredients depending on which flavor you want to come out the most and how "spreadable" you want the resulting pesto to be (the more cream cheese you add, the more spreadable it will become).

This doubles as a great veggie dip or pasta mix in. Yum!