Pesto Pasta

I recently got a new book called Now Eat This Diet by Rocco Dispirito. He has another cookbook called Now Eat This, but this book that I got really helps you with calorie counting. Very little is vegetarian, so I have been picking recipes that could easily become meatless, which obviously changes the calorie intake as well. The other night I made a pesto pasta along with some crunchy tomato bread that was also in his book.

The Pesto Pasta in this book calls for chicken, I obviously excluded it. The calories with the chicken is 385.   This recipe makes enough for 4 servings. You will need:
 - 8 oz whole wheat rigatoni pasta
 - 2 large garlic cloves coarsely chopped
 - 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
 - 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
 - pinch of crushed red pepper
 - 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
 - 1 tbls chopped toasted pine nuts ( I substituted sunflowers seeds)
 - fresh ground pepper
 - 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half.

I made the pesto sauce ahead of time before I went to work, that way when I got home all I would have to do is cook the pasta and make the bread.

So to make the pesto you will need a food processor, which I didnt have but a blender worked well. Combine the garlic and sour cream in the food processor and pulse until the garlic is finely chopped. Then add the basil, parsley and crushed red pepper, along with the 1/4 cup cheese and the pine nuts. I for the life of me could not find pine nuts. I read online though that sunflowers seeds would work as a substitute so that is what I used.

Puree until the sauce is smooth and season with pepper and salt to taste.

In a large bowl toss the pasta and tomatoes with the pesto and serve.

Like I said I also made the crunchy tomato bread from this book as well, this too serves 4 and is 168 calories. With 2 slices being a serving. For this you need:
 - 8 oz whole wheat baguette
 - 1 garlic clove
 - 1/2tsp dried oregano
 - 1 cup canned peeled plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
 - 1/4 cup grated parmigiano- reggiano
 - fresh ground black pepper

Cut the bread in half lengthwise and place in a toaster oven to toast. Rub the toasted halves with the garlic and divide the tomatoes in half and spread out on the bread. Sprinkle with oregano, and cheese. Top with a few drops of olive oil and season with pepper. Transfer the bread back to the toaster again and toast until cheese melts and tomatoes are warm. Slice into 8 pieces and serve!

While a tad time consuming, this was pretty easy to make! Tomorrow, or this weekend, Ill put up a dip, or side dish Im making for cinco de mayo!