Traditional pesto is loaded with oil, which tends to contribute to obesity and other diseases. This version is not quite traditional.
A Healthier Pasta Sauce
Besides leaving out the tanker of oil, I’ve included some parsley (for those who find it difficult to spend a half day’s wages on fresh basil). And I’ve excluded the cheese – and thus excluded 215 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 44 milligrams of cholesterol. (Yowza!)
Fewer Calories
What does this mean?
This means you get a delicious, cholesterol-free, easy-to-prepare Pasta with Parsley Almond Pesto Sauce with 129 fewer grams of refined fat and 1117 fewer calories than pasta with traditional pesto. (per 4 small servings) (Double yowza!)
Mmmmm … pasta topped with a flavorful, nutty, fresh-tasting pesto sauce. So delicious and so good for you.
Gluten-Free Pasta
I also used gluten-free pasta, which is totally an optional part of this recipe, but we’ve found some gluten-free pasta that is absolutely delicious, and we like it even better than regular pasta.
Check out our gluten-free pasta taste test.
Low-Oil and Oil-Free Recipes
Despite what you may read on the internet, oil comes attached to a number of negative health effects, such as hindered digestion, weight gain, and inflammation. Why does oil cause so many health issues? Well, there are a number of reasons, but one of them is that oil is a highly-refined food. Unlike whole foods (like olives, almonds, and coconuts), all oils (like olive oil, almond oil, and coconut oil) have most of the nutrients stripped from them.
If you’d like to understand more about why oil is not a health food and what will happen if you remove oil from your diet, check out my post – Is Oil Healthy?
If you’d like to try some recipes that are completely oil-free, I have several yummy recipes that deliciously and creatively get the oil out.
Delicious and Easy Weight Loss
Forget counting calories. Forget restricting portion sizes. Simply eat the right foods at the right time, and watch the weight fall off. Check out the lusciously creamy toppings, smooth sauces, and scrumptious dips in my Weight Loss Program.
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Fettuccine with Parsley Almond Pesto (Vegan)
Cook
Total
Yield 2 large or 4 small servings
Fresh. Quick. Easy. Flavorful. Vegan. Gluten-Free. The perfect pasta recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces uncooked fettuccini
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 3 3/4 cups (packed) fresh parsley (large and tough stems removed)
- 4 - 5 cloves garlic
- 1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated onion
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, scant
- 3/4 cup pasta water
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 3/4 cup of pasta water when draining pasta. (The pasta water will be added to the blender.)
- While pasta is cooking, place almonds in food processor and coarsely grind.
- Add parsley and garlic and process until parsley is almost pureed.
- Add fresh basil, granulated onion, salt, olive oil, and lemon juice and process until basil is very, very finely chopped.
- Remove 3/4 cup of pasta water from pasta and add to pesto. Process until mixed.
- When pasta is done, drain pasta. Serve parsley pesto over hot pasta.
Notes
1. This recipe works great in a 12-cup food processor. If your food processor is smaller, you may want to prepare the pesto sauce in batches.
2. This recipe generously serves two. If you’d like to make a double recipe, be sure to make sauce in batches. A double recipe of the pesto sauce needs more space than it will get in a 12-cup food processor.
3. Actual hands-on time is less than 15 minutes. The total time you need to give yourself to make this recipe depends on how long it takes your stove to bring water to boil.
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Leave a comment
Your comments make my day! 🙂
This looks amazing!! Hopefully going to try it out soon.
I hope you like it!
I didn’t have enough parsley so I used 3 cups basil and 1 cup parsley. It was really good.
Yes, yes, yes! Anytime I have enough, I max out the basil.
So glad you liked it, Nicole 🙂
Thanks Jennifer… I’m going to try this pasta…it would seem very healthy and tasty. Eileen
Is there a reason to avoid pine nuts?
No, not at all. Pine nuts are a healthy food. However I did not test them in this particular recipe. Some people don’t like them, so almonds provide a nice alternative.