Better than Pesto Puree

By MaryEllen

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.

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

Preparation

Step 1

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.



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.

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