Thursday, July 15, 2010

Gluten-free Pasta with Garlic Scape Pesto


I don't know if it's because I walked 3.6 miles in hilly terrain, or I was really hungry - but this dinner was so good! Gluten free, dairy free and fresh from the farm.



Garlic Scape Pesto
4-5 ounces water
15-20 garlic scapes
30-40 fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup raw pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Soak the pine nuts in water for about an hour or more. Drain the water and rinse. Trim the garlic scapes of the stringy end (but leave the flower/bud thing) and the hard end on the other side.

Throw all ingredients into the blender. Start with 4 ounces of water and add another ounce if the blender is struggling. Blend it really well. This makes almost 2 cups of pesto, and is only 12 points for the whole recipe in the Weight Watchers system. That means you can add just over 2 tablespoons to your pasta and it's only 1 point.

I boiled brown rice penne and steamed some chicken breast (yes, I know that's weird - but I'm on a diet & the chicken was still frozen). In the last 3 minutes of the chicken cooking, I added big cubes of zucchini and lightly steamed that.

I tossed together 1 1/2 cups of pasta with a few cubes of chicken, 2 tablespoons pesto and threw some zucchini on top. You have to try this. My goodness! Could dinner get any better?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A friend shared your blog with me. My daughter also has food allergies. Gluten, diary and eggs. I will be back.

Linda said...

That does sound really delicious--a perfect summer meal. Thanks for sharing it and for participating in the pesto challenge.