Pesto-Rubbed Split Chicken Breasts and Potatoes
I made an unholy amount of pesto yesterday…(LOVE the fresh basil in the summer—love it!)….and there’s only so much pasta-with-pesto-and-vegetables even I can eat *smile*…. so I did a bit of research to find new ways to use it.
In my searching I came across this recipe for a whole Roasted Chicken with Pesto and Potatoes on Epicurious. It’s too hot to keep the oven going to cook a whole bird, but some under-an-hour-to-cook, on-the-bone breasts? That I can manage. I think if I parboil the potatoes, they should cook up just fine in the shorter roasting time.
I’m very interested to see what happens to the flavor of the pesto when cooked for so long. Generally, pesto is something you add in at the end, off the heat, to preserve a) the color and b) (most importantly) the fresh, uncooked flavor.
An hour in a 425 degree oven should make some serious changes to the flavor….and I can’t wait to taste the results!
[Where’s the recipe?]
Update 7/15/10:
The chicken and potatoes came out great! The cooked pesto had the flavor of really deep basil….that’s the best way I can describe it. But very, very yummy. Be sure to rub the pesto under the skin to get the flavor into the meat. And be sure to season the chicken with salt and pepper. Or garlic salt and pepper, as I always do.
And I didn’t even bother to parboil the potatoes. I had 4 russets that needed using, so I just scrubbed them clean, cut into chunks and tossed with some of the pesto. They cooked up just fine.
And I liked it all even better cold today for lunch.
Will write up a more complete recipe, so you’ll have it all in one place, and post soon.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
So, how did it go? I am interested, since I love getting the split chicken breasts when they are on sale.
It came out really good. And I liked it even better cold for lunch today. Will update the post.