Pesto Chicken
My basil plants are looking good and are ready for a little harvest. And what’s everybody favorite recipe featuring these little guys, Pesto. (At least most of the people I know).
The Pesto
Photo by sa_ku_ra cc
Category of food: Condiments
Yield Amount: 1 cup
Ingredients:
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Procedure:
- Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
- Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Pesto Chicken
Now to make our basil pesto into a nice dinner how about making a pesto chicken, perhaps with a fresh salad or pasta. Since its summer time, tonight turned on the grill for a nice grilled pesto chicken over fettucini and added some cherry tomatoes. The opportunities for pesto are endless, even without a widespread imagination.
What’s your favorite Pesto dish or recipe?
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Posted by Jimi on July 9th, 2008 and filed under cook.
Fresh pesto is great straight off the spoon! I add it to vegetable soups, smear it on poached fish, and use it as a spread on sandwiches. Hmm, my basil plants need some harvesting, too–I may just make a batch this evening.
Hi Jimmi.
In response to my Jersey Fresh blog, you are right! how could I forget the gorgeous blueberries??? Thanks for the reminder, I only eat them every day with yogurt. Duh!
Loved Philly dining on our last weekend there at the Museum at the Frida Kahlo exhibit. Ate at some great spots. Looking fwd to our next road trip to Phila.
I am adding your blog to my blog roll.
Thanks!
Regards, Stacey
Stacey Snacks
I love the pictures of you basil! This is the first summer we have been hugely successful at growing it and that is because we travel so much that our growing season is necessarily rather short. But now that we’ve learned how to clone the plants aeroponically to keep them going, the indoor gardens keep up with our demand. Before, our pesto recipe was quite similar to yours, but we had to go lighter on the basil and use more garlic. Some cooks recoil in horror when they hear this, but I also like to add some fresh creamery butter in too, right along with the olive oil. And our romano has to be pecorino
We like to pour this over angel hair pasta with a bit of salmon.