Chicken pesto Alfredo

19 Apr

pasta is up there with one of my favourite dishes. This is my go to pasta dish when I’ve left things til the last minute. making my own basil pesto just adds to the deliciousness.

For the PEsto:

1/3 cup pine nuts

2 cups fresh basil leaves

3 cloves garlic

3/4 cup grated parmesan

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

add basil, pine nuts, garlic and parmesan into a blender or food processor and blitz slowly adding the oil until smooth, season with salt and pepper, store in a airtight container until you’re ready to use.

For the pasta:

pasta of your choice (i used fettuccini)

3-4 chicken thigh cut

speck cut (you can use pancetta or bacon instead)

1/2 cup cream

sun dried tomato chopped

1/2 onion chopped

3 cloves roasted garlic crushed

1/2 cup pecorino

3/4 cup parmesan

salt and pepper

fill a pot with water, add some salt and bring to boil. once boiling add your pasta cook until aldente, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water before draining.

saute the onion and garlic add the speck, cook until browned slightly, then remove from heat and place in a bowl. place chicken thigh in hot pan until cooked through and slightly browned, remove from the heat.

using a clean pan, add pesto to heat, stir in cream, add pecorino, heat until sauce is just starting to bubble around the edges, but not boiling, add the chicken, speck garlic onion and sun dried tomatoes, stir through. Add the drained pasta and about 1/2 the pasta water. stir until heated through, add more pasta water if it looks too dry.

season with salt and pepper and serve with parmesan.

for the garlic bread:

1 whole garlic wrapped in foil place in oven for about 15-20 mins

clarify the butter by heating up and removing the milk solids (the white bits off the top) reserving the liquid gold - chill.

once cooled add the roasted crushed garlic by squeezing out of the skin whilst still warm (be careful it will be still hot inside), mix.

cut a baguette in half, spread the garlic butter over bread and wrap in foil.

place over hot coals (or in an oven) to toast the bread, remove from foil, add parmesan cheese and sear until browned.

ENJOY.