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Why would pesto need to be low fat? The fats in it (olive, pine nut seed) are of the healthy variety.
Now if you are worried about calories that's different.
If you want to make the meal healthier, using whole grain pasta would be my goal, and adding more vegetables.

ValHalla -
I'm certainly not against good fats, and treats in my diet. I made "regular" pesto just the other day, if you've seen my posts on desserts, you'll know that I'm not a crazy fake-food diet lady.
But for everyday eating, 25 grams of fat for 4 tablespoons of sauce is a lot especially given that it's something like 40% of your RDA for fat, and I generally eat more than 4 tablespoons of it!

But, if you don't need to watch your fat intake on a daily basis, then feel free to make the full fat version!

The Italians know how to do it right. They generally eat only small portions of pasta with all the oil and cheese and pine nuts along with the rest of the meal of vegetables and protein.

I would take (and thoroughly enjoy) a small bowl of pasta with real full fat pesto over a large bowl of pesto-lite any day.

And that goes for Fettucine Alfredo too.

Try replacing the ricotta with silken tofu. (just a suggestion -- I have never done this, so it may be terrible!)

Or maybe low-fat sour cream instead of tofu or ricotta... I might try that.

PESTO with ricotta/tofu or any other kind of cheese (beside parmigiano or pecorino) is NOT real pesto. that's it.

i agree with Valhall.. beside you really just need 1 spoon of crude olive oil for the pesto, not tons of it, since the pine nuts are oily enough. Mamma teaches.Emma eats. :-)

I wonder if you could use the water/whey that comes with water-packed mozzarella or feta. I find it useful for all sorts of random things.

I disagree with the "Not Pesto" remark. The substance of the pesto is still there.
This recipe looks great, although I would recommend using silken tofu. That's how I have made it in the past and no man, Italian or nay-sayer has ever disliked it.


Italians also have the luxury of more exercise because of all the walking they do.

I say make this recipe, call it Pesto and ENJOY!

"Italians also have the luxury of more exercise because of all the walking they do."


Seriously, S. Schweikert? The luxury of exercise? Get up and walk. It's not that hard. You can even do it outside of Italy!

For the calorie and fat counter folks, they don't care about good fats versus bad fats. They only see the word "fat" and freak out. I enjoy pesto, but sometimes it feels too rich for me so this lighter version might be a nice substitution. It might not. I will try it anyway.

Question to all: For someone like me who does not have a food processor, would an immersion blender (the stick kind) work? I've gotten really creative with that and had a lot of success, but never used it with oil. A food processor is on the wish list though.

Emmybee, I rather suspect S was refering to walking as a mode of transportation. Not all of use have the time or energy to get out and walk on a regular basis and being able to walk to get places can be a luxury.

As someone who has started hauling her butt out of bed an hour earlier every morning to hit the gym, I have to say being able to walk everywhere would be helpful.

The recipe instruction say "use the feed tube to stream in the olive oil and water," but water is not an ingredient in the recipe.

Miss Pea, my Braun immersion blender came with a chopper attachment that I use as a mini blender--awesome for making pesto. You might be able to order the attachment for yours--it is really invaluable for chopping nuts, making small amounts of sauces, etc. The stick blender itself would probably not be so effective. Some say mortar and pestle is a must, to which I say, "ha!"

I think this recipe would be good for someone who is trying to lose weight, or for health reasons really needs to be careful about how much fat they take in. But for the rest of us, moderation is key! Who would eat pesto every day anyway? I love it, but I could afford that much fresh cheese and pinenuts aren't cheap either. Pesto is a special treat.

I like to freeze traditional pesto to have in the winter months...do you think you could freeze this version with the ricotta in it?

I substituting lemon juice for some of the olive oil, which makes a very tangy pesto

A couple of years ago I started tossing a few chopped tomatoes into my pesto because I didn't like using all that olive oil - perfect! They thin it out and add a nice flavor. I also use roasted and salted almonds instead of pine nuts which add more great flavor and are a lot less expensive than pine nuts (which I don't really care for anyway). I'm one of those people who will eat pesto straight from the container with a spoon, so I especially love this lower fat/calorie version! : )

http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007/08/tomato-pesto-pizza-my-favorite-basil.html

i've never added ricotta to pesto in my life - although that does seem like it would add a nice protein dimension usually lacking in pesto.

i always use whole wheat pasta, add my parm by hand at the end after grinding and never need to use the amount of oil called for. you only need a few tablespoons for the whole pound of pasta - which is at least 8 servings (unless my hubby is around then he eats more) i've always added broccoli to the last few minutes of pasta cooking time and then add chicken if i have it.

i don't think you eat the 4 Tblspns of sauce in one sitting/serving! it spreads out over the whole pound of pasta ... 4 T seems to be an excessive amount of sauce for one meal! but then i'm italian and we like pasta with only a little sauce.

we make pesto using basil, softened cream cheese, a touch of olive oil and garlic, and salt and pepper. its creamy and delicious, and if you use light cream cheese its not that high in fat -- much better than all olive oil!

for those talking about using a food processor or immersion blender...I just throw everything into my blender on the pulse setting and it does the trick. If I need to add olive oil or water I open the little plastic part (don't know the technical term!) in the lid and pour it in while blending.

I've never used ricotta in pesto, though I do like the added protein thought,.. . perhaps as an after addition, like I do with a red sauce...

I add spinach to my pesto... more to extend the basil... cut the cost... I can never seem to grow enough basil for pesto.

I call it Peasant Pesto ;) has an added nutritional aspect and uses a little less oil since the spinach has lots of moisture.