Reduced Fat Pesto

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This makes a fairly typical pesto, but it’s lower in fat and sodium than commercial ones. This is accomplished by lowering the amount of oil and leaving out the salt. It’s not a really difficult thing, but one that doesn’t seem to occur to commercial pesto makers.

Ingredients

2 cups (80 g) fresh basil, packed
3 tablespoons (27 g) pine nuts
1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup (25 g) Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil

Preparation

Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup [60 g] at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic and blend again. Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container. Process basil pesto until it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used; mix all batches together well.

Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week or freeze for a few months.

Tip: Serve over pasta or on toasted bread.

Nutrition Detail

924 Calories (73% from Fat, 9% from Protein, 18% from Carb)
24 g Protein
84 g Total Fat
12 g Unsaturated Fat
48 g Monounsaturated Fat
12 g Polyunsaturated Fat
48 g Carb
24 g Fiber
0 g Sugar
660 mg Phosphorus
1704 mg Calcium
408 mg Sodium
2496 mg Potassium
6420 IU Vitamin A
24 mg ATE Vitamin E
48 mg Vitamin C
24 mg Cholesterol

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Note

To divide this into as many portions as you want to use it:

When you’re done preparing this, measure it with a good kitchen scale.
Note the weight.
If you intend to use it for, let say 10 times, divide its weight by 10 to know the weight of every portion you’ll be taking.

So for this recipe, if we assume the weight is 250g and you have decided to use it with 10 different meals, then you must weigh 25g for every portion.

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1 g (0.05 oz) Increment Measure Accuracy Scale

Measure up to 5000 g (11 lb, 250 oz) precisely. Select your preferred units (and convert units) to follow recipes more conveniently. It has easily read measurements on the backlit LCD display. Built with 304 food-grade, stainless steel for food safety.

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