Pesto of the Week! Sundried Tomato Pesto (with Ravioli and Oven Roasted Tomatoes)

Monday night was a total tomato fest. Not that I'm complaining. I've made this red pesto recipe so many times now that I should know it by heart, but I think this time I actually screwed it up a little bit by adding too much pasta water. It kind of muted the flavor a bit. Or maybe it was because I tried to cool it with the garlic for once...mistake!

Below is the original recipe from 101 Cookbooks. I usually double the pesto recipe because I like to have some extra for sandwiches. Doubling it calls for one 10 ounce jar of sundried tomatoes in oil. There were 24 sundried tomatoes in the jar, so I'm not sure how the 12 that the recipe calls for only equals 2 ounces.

I used dried thyme because that's what I had, but also because pulling thyme leaves off the stem makes me crazy and Meghan and I have yet to invent our "thyme machine."

Ingredients

1 pound fresh cheese raviolis
12 plump, chewy sun-dried tomatoes (about 2 ounces)
2 medium cloves garlic
a couple big pinches of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts, lightly toasted
1-2 cups spinach
2/3 cup oven-roasted cherry tomatoes (optional)*
a bit of crumbled goat cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and cook the raviolis per package instructions. Reserve about a cup of pasta water.
2. Make the sun-dried tomato pesto by pulsing the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, pepper flakes, olive oil, thyme, and salt in a food processor until it resembles pesto. Add the walnuts or pine nuts and pulse a few more times. I once pulsed everything together at once, and it was fine.
3. Combine 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water in a large bowl with two-thirds of the sun-dried tomato pesto. Add the cooked raviolis and toss. Add more of the hot pasta water if you want to thin out the sauce a bit. (I'd recommend using only a little!)
4. Put the raviolis on top of some spinach. Top with the cherry tomatoes and crumbled goat cheese.
To oven roast the tomatoes: Cut cherry tomatoes in half and mix with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon and a half of brown sugar. Place tomatoes in an oven safe dish with the cut sides facing up and roast in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.