This gorgeous pesto celebrates three very special and very delicious summer ingredients: tomatoes, walnuts and bouncing, booming summer basil. For me, tomatoes are the epitome of summer, a celebration of sunshine and sweetness encapsulated in firm, tight-skinned, brightly coloured spheres of red, orange, gold, green or purple. I wait impatiently for their arrival every. single. year, toes twitching as I anticipate that first burst of sweet, sunshine-y goodness. Although tomatoes start to trickle in around December, it's really only in high summer and down through into autumn that their sweet, sweet flavour really comes into play, and my goodness, are they worth the wait!

Tomatoes lend themselves to all manner of deliciousness: one of my favourite summer breakfasts is a thick wodge of sourdough slathered with butter and topped with juicy, plumptious slices of tomatoes. Add a drizzle of olive oil and a generous rain of salt and pepper, and THAT is Rachel breakfast heaven. Tomatoes also come up beautifully when roasted - a stint in a hot oven further intensifies their already incredible flavour - and in this recipe we’re doing just that.

Walnuts are also in season in summer - there’s a tree in my local park that’s laden with them at this time of year, and I’ve seen them in the front yards of houses too, hanging temptingly over the street. You can absolutely harvest your own and use them in this recipe, although it does take some effort to extract them, firstly from their firm green outer wrapping, then from their wrinkly brown shells, and you are fully permitted to simply purchase them (I did) :).

I created this recipe for a summer event to make the most of an incredible tomato and basil harvest, and it was so lovely that I'm now sharing it with you. Call it a pesto, call it a spread, call it a dip, call it what you like and do with it what you will - this roasted tomato, walnut and basil concoction has so many uses I hardly know where to start. Spread it generously on sourdough, serve it with dippy veges and crackers, showcase it as part of a gorgeous summer platter, nestle it into a cheese board, heat it and pop a fat juicy piece of roasted fish on top of it, jar it up and gift it to all the summer birthday babies in your life, take it wherever your heart wants you to go. It's super simple, super delicious, and makes the most of everything that's delectable about summer :).

Roasted tomato, walnut and basil pesto

Makes about 700g

Ingredients

About 500g tomatoes (I like to use cherry or small-sized ones, because they roast faster, but you can use any size you like)

50g walnuts

Two fat cloves of garlic, with skins on

A good-sized handful of basil leaves (I used the leaves from three stalks, but you can dial this up or down according to your basil appetite :))

45 ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling over the tomatoes before you roast them

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper

Recipe

Heat your oven to 220C. Tumble the tomatoes onto a tray, nestle the garlic cloves among them and pour over a few good lugs of olive oil - three to four healthy drizzles from the bottle should do it. Sprinkle over half a teaspoon of salt and the same of pepper.
Rub it all around with your hands so the tomatoes become well coated in the oil and seasoning, enjoying the slippery feel of the oil on the smooth skin of the tomatoes as you do so (this is also an optimal time to give your tomatoes a beautiful blessing, giving your thanks for all the life-giving goodness of the summer sun and for the beautiful tomato plants it has nurtured into being for you).
Pop the tray in the oven and roast for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tomatoes are well roasted and starting to turn very dark brown on top. It’s ok to let them go a little black on top too, not fully, but a nice, deep, dark roast is what you’re after. There may be some liquid in your tray - this is good, this is lovely juicy tomato flavour. But if there’s not a heap of liquid, that’s ok too - let your tomatoes be as they wish to be.
Once the tomatoes are nicely roasted, pull them out of the oven, and let them cool for 10-15 mins. While they’re cooling, put the walnuts in your blender and blitz until they’re quite finely chopped.
Take the garlic cloves off the tray and set them aside, then use tongs or a slotted spoon to place the tomatoes into a blender, leaving any liquid behind for now. Cut the pointy end off your garlic cloves and squeeze them from the opposite end - their now-soft insides will squirt satisfyingly from their cut end, straight into your waiting tomatoes and walnuts in the blender. You’re now done with the garlic skins, so off they go to your compost.
Add the basil leaves, sugar, and your 45ml measure of olive oil to the blender, and pulse or blend the pesto until everything is combined but you still have some texture (although the texture is really up to you - feel free to go as chunky or as smooth as you wish). If you need to loosen your pesto you can use some of the tomato liquid from the tray if you have any, or add a few extra lugs of olive oil.
Once you’re at the consistency you want, taste and check the seasoning. You’ll likely need a little more salt, so add-and-taste it until the seasoning is just right for you.
Gobble straight away or store in the fridge. You can also place it into clean, sterilised jars and top with a thin layer of olive oil to seal.