real life test kitchen: healthier pesto
During the summer our diet seems to vary widely between super healthy (lots of grilled chicken and salads) and amazingly decadent (ice cream, ice cream, ice cream). In an effort to steer more in the right direction, I decided to give the Everyday Food’s recipe for a lighter pesto a try. Substituting walnuts for the traditional pine nuts, a little less cheese and olive oil, and adding a touch of lemon this pesto is tastes like summer in bowl. It’s so fresh and aromatic. Serve over whole wheat pasta and you’ve got a meal you can savor without feeling guilty afterwards. I couldn’t find the recipe online to link to, so click through to the next page for more details. — Angela M.
Everyday Food’s Lighter Pesto
3 cups of lightly packed basil leaves
3 tbs walnut pieces
3 tbs grated parmesan
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tbs lemon juice
3 tbs exra virgin olive oil
Place all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor along with 3 tablespoons of water. Season with salt and pepper. Puree until a paste forms. With motor running, add olive oil. When cooking the pasta, save some of the cooking water, and mix it in with the pasta and the pesto until it’s evenly coated.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:31 am
Another nice pesto change is using lightly cooked kale instead of most of the basil (I still use a little basil for the flavor). This was discovered as a result of some very prodigous kale plants gifted to us for our garden. Makes a more earthy pesto and is quite good.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
This sounds pretty yummy & I’m intrigued by the kale variation. I’m a little disturbed that one would feel guilty about eating pesto of all things and feel like it needs to be ‘lightened up’. I don’t mean to be snarky here, I am genuinely surprised (maybe I’m living in a happy different world where basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and some parmaggiano regiano is actually pretty healthful to start with). How many calories or much fat do these adjustments make? Does it just mean you can eat a tablespoon more of pesto (which would go a long way)?
I don’t have any problems with recipe modifications, particularly with something that sounds this delicious. Maybe it’s even better than standard pesto, and I don’t have to feel ‘guilty’ about eating either in moderation. Again, I don’t mean to be attacking here, I was just taken aback and am genuinely curious as I try to eat tasty and good things.
July 28th, 2007 at 9:54 am
I substitute chicken broth for the majority of the oil, all but two tablespoons. Olive oil is a good fat, but it has a lot of fat grams and calories. Substituting the broth retains the flavor, but allows me to eat it over pasta and not consume a lot of calories just on the sauce. Regular pesto has 230 calories and 21 g, according to a calorie counter.
July 29th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
we’re pesto powered at my house. even my daughter has to have pesto on everything.
July 30th, 2007 at 7:35 am
[...] Read more about fresh pesto here. [...]
July 31st, 2007 at 7:12 am
Ya see how in the picture at the top of the page the pasta is only lightly coated with pesto?
That is not how I do pesto.
I enjoy a bit of pasta with my gallon of pesto. And I would gladly take a year off my life, if necessary, to continue eating it that way. I must admit, however, that pesto only makes me feel healthy and lovely.