Skip to main content
Main

Baked Potatoes with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

Baked potatoes topped with a pesto made from sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, basil, and olive oil.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Pine and basil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 332 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Baked Potatoes with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

Oven450°F
Time20 to 30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Bake the potatoes

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

  2. Coat baking pan with olive oil cooking spray, and spray or brush potatoes with olive oil.

  3. Bake potatoes until tender, 20 to 30 minutes; allow to cool.

  4. If potatoes are large, cut in half or in thick slices before baking.

Make the pesto

  1. In a medium bowl, pour very hot or boiling water over tomatoes and let stand until softened, about 15 minutes.

  2. With a slotted spoon, remove tomatoes; reserve the water.

  3. In a food processor or blender, purée tomatoes, pine nuts, garlic, and basil.

  4. Gradually pour in olive oil and 1/4 cup reserved tomato water.

  5. Add more reserved water for a thinner pesto.

  6. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Assemble

  1. If not already halved, cut potatoes in half (or into thick slices if large).

  2. Using a teaspoon, scoop out some potato to form a cavity for the pesto.

  3. Fill the cavity with about 1 teaspoon of pesto; place on serving plate and sprinkle with parsley or basil.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

543Calories
11 gProtein
36 gFat
53 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pine1 oz (28g)191
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Basil5 leaves fresh (2.5g)1
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pine + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together332 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Tomato + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Red-skinned potatoes
Starchy flesh bakes soft and forms a hollow base that holds the pesto.
Sun-dried tomatoes
Concentrated sweet, tangy tomato flavour and body for the pesto.
Pine nuts
Add richness and a creamy, toasted texture to the pesto.
Garlic
Provides a sharp, pungent aroma that stands out against the sweet tomatoes.
Olive oil
Fat that emulsifies into the purée, giving the pesto a smooth, rich texture.
Lemon juice
Acidity brightens the pesto and balances the sweetness of the tomatoes.

The step that matters

Gradually pour in the olive oil. Adding oil slowly while the purée is blending lets it emulsify into a smooth, cohesive pesto. Pouring it all at once can make the sauce look greasy and separate.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, tomato, pine, clove, garlic, basil, olive):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, tomato, pine, clove, garlic, basil, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesPotato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesLemon SauceLemon Sauce236 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipes