Love & Pesto: The Signature Dish

I know it's been a while since my last post, but here it is, Love & Pesto's Signature Dish...my favorite!

P.S. I promise to make more posts this year!  Lots of new recipes to come.

Pesto Pasta with Herb Chicken

The Pesto

3 - 4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 1/2 - 3 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 - 1/3 cup roasted pine nuts
1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil (this depends on how thin or thick you want your pesto to be)
1/2 tbs. of cracked black pepper
1/2 tbs. of garlic salt

1.  Add the basil leaves, 1/4 cup olive oil, cracked black pepper & garlic salt, and garlic cloves to your mixer or blender.

2.  Pulse 4 to 5 times for 5 seconds each.  Next, add half of the parmesan cheese to the mixer.  Mix on low for 10-20 seconds until blended.  Add the rest of the parmesan cheese and any additional olive oil that you may need.  Mix on low for another 10-20 seconds.

3.  Next, I add the roasted pine nuts to the pesto mixture.  At this point, you can either blend the pesto throughly or you can blend it lightly, leaving chunks of pine nuts in the pesto sauce (I like to taste the pine nuts in my pesto, so I leave it slightly chunky).

I usually make my pesto before I even start cooking the chicken, that way, it can sit and all the flavors can come together.

I love the color of pesto and of course, the taste!

Herb Chicken

4 skinless chicken breasts
4 - 5 cloves garlic
Fresh oregano and basil leaves (about a handful of each)
Olive oil
1/2 - 1 tsp. of each:  fresh cracked black pepper, garlic salt, & red pepper
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, freshly grated of course!

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  While the oven is heating, prepare pans by lining with aluminum foil (makes for easy clean up) and drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  Place chicken breasts in pan and drizzle some of the olive oil on top.  Next, add the spices and herbs to the top of the chicken, making sure to add enough to each piece.  Lastly, sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.  This helps trap in all the spices and herbs on the chicken, so they can flavor it as it bakes.

3.  Cook chicken 50 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees.

Garrison's Garlic Bread  --- This recipe won my heart ;)

Fresh oregano & basil
4 - 6 cloves of garlic (chopped)
Unsalted butter
Red pepper, ground black pepper, sea salt
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
French loaf or artisan bread

1. Slice bread loaf in half lengthwise.  Place halves on baking sheet and spread the unsalted butter on top.  Next, layer the chopped garlic cloves and herbs/seasonings.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

2.  Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted.

Yum!

Finally, plate your dish and enjoy with a glass of red wine!

* Note: I usually put more pesto on my pasta than this, but Garrison was here and I was so distracted by my excitement that I cooked too many noodles...opps! However, it was still delicious as ever.


- Buon appetito! -

A little history  -  Pesto originally came from Linguria on the Lingurian Sea in Northern Italy. The mineral-rich seaside terrain is ideal for growing various types of vegetation, thus making the Lingurian diet one of the healthiest in Italy.  Basil thrives and grows in abundance here, along with garlic and pine nuts which were combined to make Pesto Alla Genovese.