I wondered if I could make pesto without the olive oil. Since oil is 120 calories per table spoon and 100% fat, I thought "How would you make it without oil?" I have made hummus without oil by saving some of the cooking water from the beans and blending it in, but there is no such liquid in making pesto.
Then it hit me, what if I used roasted garlic instead of raw and a whole head of garlic instead of a couple of cloves. I set to it and it was still a little stiff when I was done. I considered giving in and adding oil, but there's no blog post in that so I thought "I have all of these green tomatoes from my trimming back the plants so they'd ripen faster. Maybe I'll add some of them." It worked great.
This pesto still has some fats. It has pan toasted walnuts and about 4 tbsp of grated Parmesan and Romano cheese, but it would normally also have 4-6 tbsp of olive oil for 500 -700 calories and 100% of those from fat.
You don't have green tomatoes sitting around, you say? Add some firmer ripe tomatoes instead. If you want the color to stay green use yellow pear tomatoes. You could also use some water, but I would use some water from the pasta you are going to use. It will be a little more starchy and not tend to just leak out on your plate later.
It's a sin not to play with your food.
Be well and more soon....
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