San Marzano Tomato Salad with Basil Cashew Pesto Recipe

The past few weeks have been flu-filled. Since just after New Year from tummy to head, I have been bombarded. Most of the symptoms are gone, but I am still bone tired and feeling like I need to recover. After losing all sense of taste for over a week, my taste buds have finally recovered and I woke up this morning craving tomatoes and green.

I spent more time in the kitchen today getting recipes prepped today than I think I have for the whole month. Stay tuned for an eggplant dish coming this week and some red pepper pesto too!

Today, I want to share a lush bowl so full of flavor that I am already craving it again. And it was sooo easy. Since moving back to Delaware, I have started shopping at BJ’s and they have these lovely bags of juicy San Marzano tomatoes. Add in some beautiful fresh basil pesto and ricotta salata cheese and I was doing a happy dance in the kitchen. Ricotta Salata cheese is like an Italian feta cheese but creamier. I have not used it much, but that is changing. It was delicious!

I leave my pesto chunky and a quick toss with the tomatoes and a garlic bread scoop simply made my day. YUM. Happy Taste Buds!

What is making your taste buds happy?

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb bag of San Marzano cherry tomatoes, cut in half or in 3’s
• approximately 5-6 ounces of Ricotta Salata chopped/crumbled (you can use Mozzarella too!)
• 1 cup fresh basil
• 1/2 cup unsalted cashews
• 1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese (sometimes I use hemp seeds too!)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil for the pesto (and about another 1-2 tablespoons to toss with tomatoes)
• generous salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Slice tomatoes into bowl, add chopped/crumbled Ricotta Salata, and toss with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil. Put basil, cashews, cheese, and garlic with a bit of olive oil into food processor and blend. Slowly add the rest of olive oil to the processor until the pesto reaches your preferred consistency. Scoop tomatoes into smaller serving bowls and add dabs of pesto or toss tomatoes with pesto and serve. Enjoy!