The SparkPeople Cookbook: A Recipe for Healthy Pizza Margherita

Better-than-Pesto Puree

Yum…pesto! Credit: thebittenword.com

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 shines 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 variation, you could add a 1⁄4 cup of toasted, cooled and chopped walnuts.

Makes 8 servings: 1 tbsp per serving
6 minutes to prepare and cook

Ingredients
1 c fresh basil leaves
1 c spinach, washed and stems removed
1⁄2 c flat-leaf parsley, washed and stems removed
2 tbsp minced shallots
1⁄4 c 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.

Per serving: 65.4 calories, 6.8 g total fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 5.6 mg sodium, 1.1 g total carbs, 0.4 g dietary fiber, 0.4 g protein