Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pesto

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F. Place the red peppers on a baking sheet and sprinkle each of them with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil. Transfer the peppers to the hot oven and roast for 1 hour, turning them over using tongs at the 30 minute mark. After an hour remove from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. When the peppers are cool, using a knife, remove the seeds, white membrane inside and stem. Set aside.

2. In a food processor, add the garlic cloves and walnuts. Pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Next, throw in the roasted red peppers, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, fresh basil, Parmesan-Reggiano and crushed red pepper and pulse until mixture is smooth-ish. This will take about 1 minute. Add salt to taste (I added about 1/2 teaspoon of salt). Add a little more crushed red pepper, if you like.

Yields about 1 cup of pesto.