This classic pesto recipe is fine but I can tell you now that you don’t need the teaspoon of salt—the cheese more than enough salts it up. (Also, next time I want to toast the pine nuts.)
I wasn’t thinking clearly and added the salt. When I sampled the food-processored pesto, I got grumpy over how salty it was. Had I been pairing it with pasta, I would have been even more disappointed.
What it did go well with was this recipe for Pesto and Cheese-Filled Chicken Breasts. I merely substituted the pesto for the custom thyme pesto the recipe calls for. Delicious. I needed to pound-down down the chicken breasts even more to make rolling easier and use toothpicks to keep ’em rolled—the filling kept squeezing out. Despite their unruly appearance, once lightly fried and baked, they more closely resembled croquettes than rollatini, juicy and tasty.
Pesto
- 3 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely grated (2/3 cup)
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups loosely packed fresh basil
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- With food processor running, drop in garlic and finely chop.
- Stop motor and add nuts, cheese, pepper and basil, then process until finely chopped.
- With motor running, add oil, blending until incorporated.
- Makes about 1 1/3 cups
Pesto and Cheese-Filled Chicken Breasts
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup soft, fresh goat cheese
- 1/3 cup pesto
- 1 teaspoon minced shallot or green onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- All-purpose flour
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Pound chicken breasts between sheets of waxed paper to thickness of 1/4 inch. Combine goat cheese, pesto and shallot in small bowl; mix well. Spread boned side of chicken breast with scant 2 tablespoons cheese mixture. Starting at one long side of chicken breast, roll up tightly, jelly roll style. Repeat with remaining chicken and cheese mixture.
- Heat olive oil in heavy large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and shake off excess. Fry chicken breast in olive oil until golden brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes. Place skillet with chicken in oven and bake until chicken is tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes.