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Photo of Lighter Basil Pesto by Jtallent

Lighter Basil Pesto

Rated as 4.8 out of 5 Stars
 made it  |  5 reviews   |   photos

Recipe by:

"Basil pesto is one of my favorite foods, especially in the summer. Unfortunately pesto is very high in fat and calories, so I have been working to create a lower fat and calorie version. This pesto is creamy and delicious without the guilt! This recipe is also great with any type of stock or nuts that you have at home."
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Ingredients

15 m servings 42 cals
Original recipe yields 8 servings

Directions

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  • Prep

  • Ready In

  1. Chop basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor. Add ricotta cheese to the basil mixture and process. Repeat with Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Add vegetable broth and process until sauce is smooth. Add more broth if pesto is too thick.
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Nutrition Facts


Per Serving: 42 calories; 3.1 g fat; 1.3 g carbohydrates; 2.5 g protein; 5 mg cholesterol; 56 mg sodium. Full nutrition

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Reviews

Read all reviews 5
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Loved that this recipe didn't have as many calories as regular pesto & was yummy! Even though olive oil is a good type of oil, it still has 119 Calories in just 1 TB! So I guess when you use a 1...

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This is a simple recipe that is easy to put together and has wonderful flavor. I used almonds instead of pine nuts, and didn’t use any vegetable broth but did add a little lemon juice.

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Delicious. Don't miss the fat.

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I really liked this pesto. I didn't have pine nuts, so I toasted some almonds and walnuts, and that worked great. I skipped the oil too, just added a little water to thin out the pesto a bit. Th...

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It was good, but a bit heavy on the garlic and we missed some of the oil. Next time, I'll cut back on the garlic and sub oil in for the vegetable broth. A great and easy pesto recipe!

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