Better than Pesto Puree

Better than Pesto Puree

4.4 of 5 (7)
member ratings
Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 8
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 65.4
  • Total Fat: 6.8 g
  • Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
  • Sodium: 5.6 mg
  • Total Carbs: 1.1 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g
  • Protein: 0.4 g

View full nutritional breakdown of Better than Pesto Puree calories by ingredient


Introduction

This is a great way to work more vegetables into your meals. This puree of basil, spinach, and
parsley is reminiscent of pesto, with much less oil and no cheese. The fresh flavor of the herbs and
spinach really shine through.
By blanching and shocking the leaves, they will keep their bright green color after being pureed.
Skip this step and you’ll end up with a black puree. Likewise, removing the stems from spinach and
parsley is a chore, but I truly believe you end up with a smoother, tastier product in the end.
I like to use it instead of tomato sauce on pizza, but you can also add color, flavor, and almost
a full serving of vegetables to any pizza, pasta, or seafood dish. For a variation, you could add a 1⁄4
cup of toasted, cooled, and chopped walnuts.
This is a great way to work more vegetables into your meals. This puree of basil, spinach, and
parsley is reminiscent of pesto, with much less oil and no cheese. The fresh flavor of the herbs and
spinach really shine through.
By blanching and shocking the leaves, they will keep their bright green color after being pureed.
Skip this step and you’ll end up with a black puree. Likewise, removing the stems from spinach and
parsley is a chore, but I truly believe you end up with a smoother, tastier product in the end.
I like to use it instead of tomato sauce on pizza, but you can also add color, flavor, and almost
a full serving of vegetables to any pizza, pasta, or seafood dish. For a variation, you could add a 1⁄4
cup of toasted, cooled, and chopped walnuts.

Number of Servings: 8

Ingredients

    1 cup fresh basil leaves
    1 cup spinach, washed and stems
    removed
    1⁄2 cup flat-leaf parsley, washed and stems
    removed
    2 tbsp minced shallots
    1⁄4 cup olive oil
    1⁄2 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Fill a medium bowl with ice water and set
aside.
2. Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring
to a boil over high heat. Add the basil, spinach,
and parsley and cook for no more than 60 seconds.
Drain and immediately transfer the leaves
in the ice water to shock them; let them sit in
the water for 1 minute, then drain. Wring in a
clean kitchen towel to remove excess moisture.
3. Place the cooked leaves and the shallots in
a food processor or blender. Puree, adding the
oil in a steady stream while the blender is running.
Season with pepper. This will keep in the
refrigerator for 1 week or in the freezer for 6
months.

Member Ratings For This Recipe


  • no profile photo

    Very Good
    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
    Loved having spinach blended in, loved the instructions to blanch and keep the color bright. But I thought it needed more of a garlicky flavor, and it definitely needed some cheese or nutritional yeast and toasted pine nuts. I know those drive the calories up, but pesto needs them! - 1/25/13


  • no profile photo

    Incredible!
    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
    Just made up the pesto and it looks SUPER DELICIOUS! Very very green and my whole kitchen smells like basil now, its lovely! - 7/22/12


  • no profile photo

    Very Good
    2 of 2 people found this review helpful
    I couldn't find parsley or shallots on our local grocery store, so I substituted them with more basil and garlic. I also used frozen spinach and didn't bother to do the heating step at all. I only put everything in blender and it was delicious in a pizza! :) - 2/3/12


  • no profile photo

    Good
    This isn't a fresh eating pesto. It's bitter with all the raw shallot and has a somewhat unappetizing smell. However, the magic of this is in how it mellows out beautifully in the oven. Those shallots take on a caramelized flavor that just works on a pizza. The olive oil soaks into the crust as well - 9/15/17


  • no profile photo


    Does anyone know if this works well on pasta instead of trdaitional pesto?
    - 9/7/12