Sun dried tomato pesto!

Ours is a pasta-fanatic family. So, I keep trying different variants of pasta. Sun dried tomato pesto was one such item, on my to-do list for a long time.
I happened to see a pack of sun dried tomato in Walmart on Saturday & tried it the very next day. We loved it & I will add it to my monthly menu from now on!

Preparation time: 10 mins (except soaking time)
Makes around: 1.5 cups of pesto

Ingredients:
Sun dried tomatoes*: 1/2 cup, tightly packed
Melon seeds: 1/4th cup (pine nuts are normally used)
Baby spinach: 1/4th cup
Garlic: 1 clove
Olive oil: 4 tbsp
Parmesan cheese: 1 tbsp
Salt: According to taste

* I used dried tomatoes available in packets & not the sun dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil. If you are using sun dried tomatoes soaked in olive oil, there is no need to soak the tomatoes in hot water. Just drain out the olive oil & use it.


Method:
Soak the sun dried tomatoes in hot water for 20 mins.
Toast the melon seeds in microwave for 30 secs & keep them aside.
Drain the water from the sun dried tomatoes.
Add sun dried tomatoes. melon seeds, garlic, olive oil to a food processor/mixer & pulse till they are coarse.
Finally throw in the spinach, Parmesan cheese &  pulse again couple of times.
Scoop out the pesto & use it as needed.

Notes:

• I use the sun dried tomato pesto for pasta, sandwiches & sometimes on boiled vegetables too.
• You could replace melon seeds with pine nuts, soaked almonds or walnuts.