I love pesto. Basil pesto, the pine nuts, the garlic, the parmesan, and, yes, the olive oil. It does not come easily in a skinny version without sacrificing the flavor and character of it. Nevertheless, sundried tomato pesto lends itself to a skinny version, and this one, a spur of inspiration, came up, well, to die for!
15 large sundried tomatoes (not from a jar, but the dried variety)
3 large garlic cloves, or 5 smaller ones, peeled, coarsely chopped
0.5 oz pine nuts
3 TB Trader Joe's red pepper spread
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 TB Mrs Dash garlic and herbs
2 TB high quality extra-virgin olive oil
2-5 TB water (add when needed to achieve desired pesto consistency)
I used my magic bullet to make the pesto, so I cut up the sundried tomatoes into small slices using scissors, and coarsely chopped the garlic, since it is has not the strongest motor, but is so easy to clean up (what a plus). I added all the remaining ingredients to the food processor, and pulsed it to a smooth, slightly coarse consistency and added water tablespoon wise.
The entire sundried pesto is 450 kcals, but it is used tablespoon-wise (ca 5-7 TB). It is great with pasta, or as a sundried tomato pesto chicken sauce, or as a spread for paninis with roasted eggplant and zucchini. For pasta, it can be thinned out with low sodium chicken stock or just some pasta water.
Enjoy!
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