Pesto
Sometimes I make something absolutely amazing for dinner and this dish is certainly one of those times. This meal is easy, quick and so delicious. I can’t take all the credit for this delicious meal: here’s where I found the recipe
Ingredients:
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt & Pepper
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Bunch Asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces (tough ends removed first)
1/2 Cup Cream/Half&Half/Evaporated Milk
For the Pesto Sauce – (Or substitute about 1/2 cup store-bought pesto sauce)
1/4 Cup Blanched Almonds
1 Cup Basil, about 20 leaves
1 tsp Dried Tarragon
1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley
1 Lemon, zested
1 Clove Garlic
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Butterfly and pound out your chicken breasts to make cutlets. Check out this quick tutorial for more info on that: How To Make Chicken Cutlets. Season your chicken cutlets with salt and pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the chicken cutlets. You will have to do this in two batches so you don’t crowd the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Reserve on a plate and cook up the remaining cutlets. Reserve all the cooked chicken cutlets on a plate.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the pesto sauce. Combine all pesto sauce ingredients except for the olive oil in a food processor. Turn on and stream in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Put the asparagus in the pan, cooking for 3-4 minutes. Add a little more olive oil if the pan is dry. Add in the cream and pesto sauce, stirring to combine.
Add the chicken back to the pan and coat with the sauce.
Serve 2 chicken cutlets per person with asparagus and creamy pesto sauce on top.
Serves: 4
Tags: Asparagus, Chicken and Asparagus, Creamy Pesto Sauce, Dinner, Gluten Free, Pesto, Pesto Asparagus, Pesto Sauce
This is sort of a lot of work, but it’s so delicious! I used all purpose flour for these, but you could substitute whole wheat flour. You may need to adjust the amount of flour if you use whole wheat.
Ingredients:
2 lbs sweet potatoes
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
salt & pepper
3 cups flour, possibly more
Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet until soft, about 45 minutes-1 hour depending on size. Cut them in half lengthwise and let them cool.
Remove the skin from the sweet potatoes and place the flesh in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk the potatoes until mashed. Mix in the nutmeg, egg and salt & pepper.
Using the dough hook, slowly add flour until the dough forms a ball and is not very sticky.
Separate the dough into 8 sections and roll into long ropes. Cut the dough ropes into 1 inch segments.
Roll the dough over the tines of a fork or a gnocchi board.
This makes about 150. I froze about 100 of them on a baking sheet and then transferred them to a freezer bag.
To cook them, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and drop in the gnocchi in batches. They are done 2 minutes after they float to the top of the water. It only takes a few minutes.
I served them with pesto sauce that I thinned out with some of the gnocchi cooking water.
Tags: Dinner, Gnocchi, Pesto, Sweet Potato
This is my all time favorite way to make pesto sauce. You can mix things up a bit by using different types of nuts. I’ve used walnuts before and it was great. Also, you could change the basil to swiss chard or spinach for a different flavor. Once you make your own pesto sauce, you won’t go back to store bought!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted over med-low heat
1 cup basil, about 20 leaves
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 lemon, zested
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Place all ingredients except for the olive oil in a food processor. Turn on and stream in the olive oil until it reaches a smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Tags: Gluten Free, Pesto
If you love pesto and zucchini, then you will love this! Plan on half a zucchini per person.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 zucchini, sliced into ¼ inch half moons
2 Tbsp pesto sauce
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and cook until tender and browned, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the pesto sauce.
The pesto sauce I used was my Swiss Chard pesto with pine nuts. Here is a link to it if you would like to make it.
Tags: Gluten Free, Pesto, Zucchini
This is one of my favorite pasta dishes. This was originally a recipe by Rachael Ray, but I tweaked it a bit. In Rachael’s version she boils the vegetables, but I prefer the flavor of roasted vegetables. We rarely eat boiled or steamed veggies. I also added a lot more of the vegetables.
Ingredients:
1 lb penne rigate
salt & pepper
1 lb asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 zucchinis, cut into 2 inch matchstick shapes
1/2 lb green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted over med-low heat
1 cup basil, about 20 leaves
1 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 lemon, zested
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Roast the veggies with olive oil and salt & pepper in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until browned.
Boil water for the pasta in a large pot, salt the water and cook until al dente. While the water is coming to a boil, make the pesto sauce. Combine the pine nuts, basil, tarragon, parsley, lemon zest, garlic, parmesan cheese, and salt & pepper in a food processor. Turn on the food processor and stream in the olive oil until a thick sauce forms.
Before draining the pasta, add a couple ladles of the pasta cooking water to the pesto sauce in a large bowl.
Add the cooked pasta and roasted veggies to the bowl and toss to combine. Serve with additional parmesan cheese on top.
Tags: Asparagus, Dinner, Green Beans, Pasta, Pesto, Zucchini
Last week I had some Swiss Chard that was going to go bad if I didn’t use it soon, so I made some pesto sauce with it and stuck it in the freezer. I decided that I needed to make something other than pasta with the pesto, so here it is.
First, the recipe for the pesto sauce…which is different than the other Swiss Chard Pesto sauce I have previously posted
Ingredients:
1 bunch Swiss Chard (about 7 leaves)
2 Tbsp fresh Rosemary
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
Salt & Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Combine Swiss Chard, rosemary, garlic, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts together in a food processor. Turn on food processor and stream in the olive oil until a thick sauce forms. Season with salt and pepper.
Now, for the panini. This makes enough for two servings.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup pesto sauce
2 Chicken breasts
butter
4 slices bread
1 tomato, sliced
Parmesan cheese
Rub chicken with 2 Tbsp pesto sauce and let rest for 15 minutes. Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat until cooked thoroughly. For each slice of bread, butter one side and spread pesto on the other side. On the pesto side of one slice of bread place 2 tomato slices, a chicken breast, parmesan cheese, and another slice of bread (pesto side in). Repeat for the second sandwich. Grill for about 4 minutes in a panini press.
Tags: Chicken, Dinner, Pesto, Swiss Chard
This is sort of a variation of another pesto pasta dish that I make. Both are awesome in their own ways. Pesto is one of those things that seem a lot fancier than it really is. I had some homemade pesto in the freezer, so I won’t be showing you how to make it today. It was a Swiss Chard pesto sauce.
1 Cup Pesto Sauce
Serve with some goat’s milk cheese on top. Yum. This made enough for 4 good size servings.
Here is the Swiss Chard Pesto Recipe as requested:
1 Bunch Swiss Chard (I used the Bright Lights variety, but any will do), stems removed
1/4 Cup Walnuts, toasted in a pan over low heat
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
Zest of 1 Lemon
1 Clove Garlic
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1/3 Cup EVOO (more or less)
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the Swiss Chard, Walnuts, Parmesan Cheese, Lemon zest, Garlic, and Salt & Pepper. Turn on the food processor and stream in the EVOO until a thick sauce is formed. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
Once you make your own pesto sauce, you can’t go back to store bought!
Tags: Chicken, Dinner, Pasta, Pesto, Swiss Chard