Make Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Butter
A vacation inspired recipe…
Several years ago, I took a trip to Los Angeles. Following a visit to Mission San Juan Capistrano, I had a great outdoor lunch at a restaurant called Sundried Tomato Bristo. As the name implies, the menu included many dishes featuring sun-dried tomatoes. They also had one of the best bread baskets I’ve ever seen at a restaurant. Several types of bread were paired with multiple butter options, including a sun-dried tomato butter.
I ate a lot of great things in Los Angeles, but that butter stuck with me. When I got home, I wanted to recreate the experience. I went looking for compound butter recipes featuring sun-dried tomatoes. I found one called Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Butter on the website for Whole Foods and decided to give it a try. Here’s the original recipe. I’ve since made this butter many times and almost always have some on hand. Here’s the process. Note that I’ve doubled the ingredients.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 tablespoons oil-packed, sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 2 tablespoons basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Dash of black pepper
Directions
- Blend the sun-dried tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper together in a food processor. Continue blending until the tomato chunks are fairly small.
- Add butter and blend until everything is mixed together. It helps to chop the butter into small chunks.
- Remove the mixture from the food processor and place in a container with a tight lid.
- Refrigerate at least 15 minutes, but ideally overnight.
Using the butter
Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Butter tastes great on bread, of course. I have also used it on spaghetti, chicken and even mashed potatoes. I expect it would be a good addition to some veggie dishes. What do you think Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Butter would taste good with? If you give this recipe a try, let me know how you use it in the comments.
Cookbook suggestions
American tomato: the complete guide to growing and using tomatoes by Robert Hendrickson
Epic tomatoes: how to select & grow the best varieties of all time by Craig LeHoullier
