The Pioneer Woman Tasty Kitchen
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Pesto with Mustard Seed

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Level: Easy

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Description

Easy, homemade pesto with extra tang, great hot from the stove or as a cold pasta salad.

Ingredients

  • 4 pieces Chicken (whatever You Like, Skinless, Boneless, Etc.)
  • 1 pound Pasta, Cooked And Drained With Salt And Olive Oil
  • 1 package Fresh Basil (about 40 Leaves)
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 1 ounce, weight Pignoli Nuts (or Pine Nuts, If You Will)
  • 3 cloves Garlic
  • 1 ounce, weight Pecorino Romano Or Parmesan Cheese (grated), Plus More For Serving
  • 4 Tablespoons Grainy Dijon Mustard
  • 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • 1 whole Lime, Juiced
  • Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation

Prepare the pesto. The easiest way is, of course, in a food processor, and the old fashioned way would be to grind it all up with a mortar and pestle. You can use store-bought pesto (I prefer Pastene or Cento), but homemade pesto smells so good, is really super easy, and is such a pretty color compared to the jarred stuff (a lovely lime green color as compared to the darker green in the jars).

To make the pesto, wash and dry the basil leaves. (I dry them by laying them out on paper towels with more paper towels laid over the top. By the time I’ve assembled the rest of my ingredients, they’ll be sufficiently dry.) I have a smaller food processor, so I have to do my ingredients in batches. I’ll usually start with the garlic and pignoli, remove that, then do the basil, about a half quantity at a time. Once all the dry ingredients are chopped, I put them all back in the food processor with the cheese to mix all of that up before adding the olive oil. Olive oil goes in last, one tablespoon at a time. Add salt and pepper to taste and put it aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare the mustard glaze, which is just the butter (softened of course), dijon, brown sugar and lime juice. Mix all of that together well and brush about half of it over the chicken pieces. I’ve done this with a fryer chicken with the skin on (the glaze crusts nicely on the skin), or with boneless, skinless breasts, which is obviously more figure-friendly, still quite tasty, and works better if you’re making this ahead of time for a cold pasta salad. Pop the chicken in the oven for about 15 minutes, and then take it out and spoon on a good amount of the pesto, however much you’d like (about 3 tablespoons is what I do). The rest of the pesto is going to mix up with the pasta, which I’ll get to in a second, so don’t worry about that. Put the chicken back in the oven (don’t turn it yet).

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water (with a tablespoon of olive oil) to a boil. Keep an eye on it and toss in the pasta when it’s boiling. (If you’re making this for a party, why not use tri-colored fusilli? It’s very festive looking.)

After about twelve minutes, take the chicken back out, turn it, and brush on the rest of the mustard glaze. Be sure to get all of it! Put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes to just brown it quickly on the other side.

When the pasta is done to your liking, drain it and mix it up with the rest of the pesto sauce. When the chicken is done, spoon it right out onto the dish you’re serving the pasta in, scraping the pan to get out all the sauce. If you’re making this ahead of time and putting it in the fridge (it will keep for about a day if tightly covered), cut up the chicken to bite-sized pieces and toss everything together. Sprinkle to your liking with more romano or parmesan.

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