Tasty Tuesdays :: Walnut Pesto Penne with Grilled Chicken

This Tasty Tuesday is so delicious, you should for sure be making this sometime this week!  I’m going to show you how to make your own walnut pesto sauce, mix it into a bowl of penne pasta and sun-dried tomatoes, stir in grilled chicken and of course top it off with parmesan cheese!  Obviously, because of the pictures, I already made this.  So let me tell you, that it is fresh, delicious, and a perfect dinner to whip up in about 30 minutes.  Okay, let’s get cookin’!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 3 large garlic cloves
• 2/3 cup walnuts, lightly toasted, out of shell
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (let’s be real, have 2/3 cup ready!)
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

The pesto sauce is going to be made in a food processor, so have one ready to go!  You’ll also want to get your water on the stove to a boil and the grill warmed up to a medium-high right now.  Remember, cooking is about timing.  You have to time things so that they come out together and can be plated together.  Have you ever been at a restaurant when half the table receives their meal and the other half comes out 10 minutes later?  You don’t want to be that guy!

Make sure that your basil is very fresh!  Basil is the key ingredient in pesto so the better the basil, the better the sauce.

I like to measure out most of my ingredients and have everything ready to go before I begin a meal.  Keeps me from having to reach into cupboards searching for something that you know you have… but where?  So prepare everything before hand and you will not have any problems with lost ingredients later.

We’re going to use 3 cloves of garlic in this recipe, so I thought I would quickly touch on a great way to get your garlic out of the peel (this comes from watching my mom cook for years).  First, cut off each end of your clove.

Then, put your knife on top of it, and (picture lacking) give it a good firm pound with the flat soft side of your fist.  I’ve seen people do it with their palms, but that just looks weird.  Do it this way and you’ll look like a pro.

BAM, your garlic is now peeled.  Remove the skin easily and you’re ready to start adding ingredients to your food processor.

1)  In goes your 3 cups of  basil leaves and 3 garlic cloves (if you like a little extra kick, throw in an extra clove).  I happen to have an average size food processor and I can tell you that I had to pack in the basil!  Don’t worry, totally normal.  Once you fire that baby up it reduces quickly.

2)  Drizzle in the 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil through the top hole while the food processor is running.  Suddenly, your basil leaves and garlic turn to a wonderful mush that looks a little something like this.

3)  Add in 1/3 cup of the walnuts and save the other 1/3 cup for later!  Blend it up until the walnuts are full ground in.  The walnuts lighten up the pesto a bit, so yours should be looking a little something like this.

4)  Scoop your pesto out of the food processor into a bowl.  Add 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese and stir in well.

5)  Your chicken is going to take slightly longer than your pasta.  Go put your chicken on the grill before your pasta goes in (I marinate mine in oil, salt, pepper, and garlic for an hour or so before cooking, but optional).

6)  Now that your chicken is grilling, add your pound of penne pasta to the boiling water.  Your pasta is going to take about 10 minutes to an al dente tenderness (”al dente” is firm to the bite, but not hard.  In Italian it literally means “underdone”).

7)  While the chicken is grilling and the pasta is boiling, go ahead and take this time to chop up the remaining 1/3 cup walnuts to sprinkle on top of the dishes.

8)  Also, get your 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes chopped up if they come whole in the jar like mine.

***TASTY TUESDAY WINE PAIRING***

Because we’re having a pasta dish with chicken that has LOTS of green throughout, I chose a blend called Ménage à Trois.  Yeah, that’s it’s real name!  It’s a blend of a zinfandel, a merlot, and a cabernet and it is soooo tasty!  You can pick it up at Vons for around $14 and this wine can pair with many different dishes.

9)  At about 6 minutes, you’ll probably want to flip your chicken.

It always helps to have a helper in the kitchen to try your pasta for you.  Ya know, to tell you if it’s ready or not ;)  Al dente yet Rome?

10)  Drain your pasta well, then return it to the large (empty) pot that you cooked it in.

11)  Go grab your chicken off the grill and slice it up.  If you marinated yours in oil, garlic, salt and pepper, it will probably be as juicy and delicious as this one!

12)  Now the easy part!  In your pot, add the pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and grilled chicken!  Stir well.

13)  Dish it up and top with the rest of your chopped walnuts and more parmesan cheese!

14)  Okay, I lied.  This is the easy part.  Eat up and enjoy!