Pages

▼

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Pesto....a little healthified...

FINALLY I have something from my garden!!! With 4,000 days of rain, it did a job on everything growing around here. You would think rain would be good....but not gallons at a time. 
Anyway, I went up to prune my basil back today and took the clippings and made pesto. I love pesto. But I have to de-salt things, so I did the best I could.

Here's the basil, washed and in the food processor. Recipe calls for 3 handfuls. (very precise)
I had 4 1/2 handfuls, so I used it all.

Then add 3 tsps. minced garlic.

Turn on the 30 year old processor and pulverize the contents.

Then add 2 handfuls of walnuts.
The recipe then calls for 1/2 to 3/4 C Parmesan Cheese. Here is where the salt is, so I only put in 1/4 C AND I used low-fat Parmesan Cheese.
Pulverize again.
Now drizzle 1/4 C of extra virgin olive oil SLOWLY into the bowl while processing.
Voila! Pesto.
This is how much it made. 

BTW, I am not happy with the Dannon yogurt company. I eat a coffee yogurt for lunch EVERYDAY, and I do mean, every day, (ask Birdman) and I have for over 25 years. For some reason they decided not to put the plastic covers onto the yogurts anymore. They just use a heavy duty foil instead. BUT now I have no covers to use to cover stuff like this. 

I don't know what they were thinking.

PESTO,  with healthier version notes.
-Fill processor with 3 good handfuls of basil.
-Add 3 tsp. minced garlic. Process.
-Add 2 handfuls of walnuts. (or Pine Nuts)
-Salt and Pepper to taste. (I only put pepper in)
-1/2 to 3/4 C grated Parmesan Cheese. (I used low-fat and I only used 1/4C)
Process.
-1/4 C plus 1/8 C oil ( I used 1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
Slowly pour the oil into the processor while it's processing.

Toss with any cooked pasta. I like it on bow-tie pasta, or thin spaghetti.
Or use on a pizza instead of pizza sauce.

I hope you enjoy it.



at

11 comments:

  1. brattcatAugust 6, 2009 at 8:29 PM

    Oh, yum. The parts that really got me salivating: the mass of fresh picked basil leaves (our basil is not doing well at all this year) and the drizzled olive oil.
    As for containers with lids to store your newly whizzed-up pesto, here's the skinny. My daughter says: The containers are made by Pyrex and Anchor Hocking. They can be purchased at Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Linens and Things, or googled and purchased on-line.
    I thought they also might be at that hardware store on St Johns, across from the bus station...is that still there?
    As for your empty coffee yogurt containers, can you recycle them? We recycle our containers here at one of our local elementary schools. I think the empty yogurt containers act as a sort of currency to purchase school materials.

    ReplyDelete
  2. KathleenAugust 7, 2009 at 7:32 AM

    I noticed the change in Dannon, too. I don't like just the foil....dosen't seem safe enough to me. The recipe looks yum...I will have to give this a try. Have a super week-end! Hugs, Kathleen

    ReplyDelete
  3. BALLET NEWSAugust 7, 2009 at 9:09 AM

    Hello, I just wanted to leave a comment to say how much I've enjoyed reading your post today.

    I love reading your blog - thank you very much for sharing your pictures and thoughts !

    ReplyDelete
  4. camAugust 7, 2009 at 9:50 AM

    That basil looks delish! And the pesto, of course! Keep the garden pictures coming, they definitely are aroma therapy, even if it's long distance!

    ReplyDelete
  5. DawnAugust 7, 2009 at 10:10 AM

    Yum! I'm hungry! What time is lunch? :)
    I know what's with the lid thing? Especially Dannon...didn't they have the pink lid campaign?

    ReplyDelete
  6. LiliAugust 7, 2009 at 10:18 AM

    Love your pictures AND your recipe! Need to go out to my garden to inhale that glorious smell of basil now!

    ReplyDelete
  7. OhioMomAugust 7, 2009 at 10:42 AM

    Thank you so much for this lower salt version, I am copying and pasting it. I have a bunch of basil to harvest :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. joanneAugust 9, 2009 at 12:05 AM

    this lower salt version is absolutely yummy, tasty too! Thanks for the updated recipe...I have one of those food processors too..;p

    ReplyDelete
  9. Betsy Banks AdamsAugust 9, 2009 at 1:22 PM

    YUM Elenka... That basil pesto sounds incredible. Thanks so much for the recipe.

    Even our Yoplait Lite yogurt that we eat everyday has gone to the heavy foil lids... Darn!!!!

    Hope you had a great week. We are home from a fabulous vacation.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  10. ~ ~ Ahrisha ~ ~August 9, 2009 at 3:24 PM

    Thanks for the great recipe. I'm going to have lots of basil too.
    This was my first visit. Don't know how I got here but I'm glad to did. I just laughed and laughed. I needed that. It's nice to meet you.
    ~ ~Ahrisha~ ~

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cheryl KohanAugust 22, 2009 at 8:10 PM

    Hi! I followed you here via Kalyn's Kitchen (I think). Lovely blog and great photos. I am, for sure, going to try your pesto recipe. I could eat pesto by the spoonful-that's how much I love it!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!