LEMON BASIL PESTO CHICKEN RECIPES

Steps:

• For marinade, in a small bowl, combine lemon peel, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons garlic. Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat chicken. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning bag occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drain chicken and discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken with black pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Place chicken in a foil-lined shallow roasting pan. Roast for 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into inside thigh muscle registers 165 degrees F. Allow to cool before removing meat from the bone and shred or cut into bite-size pieces. Transfer to an airtight freezer container. Cover and seal.
• To serve, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, place dried tomatoes in a small bowl; pour enough hot water over tomatoes to cover and let stand until tomatoes are softened. Cut softened tomatoes into thin bite-size strips.
• For pesto, in a small skillet, cook pine nuts over medium heat about 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring often; set aside to cool. In a food processor, combine basil, pine nuts, oil, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon garlic. Cover and process until smooth.
• In a large skillet, heat broth over medium heat until boiling. Add spinach; cook and stir about 1 minute or until spinach starts to wilt. Add chicken, crushed red pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook about 2 minutes more or until spinach is completely wilted. Stir in cooked pasta, pesto, and dried tomatoes. Cook about 5 minutes or until chicken is heated through (165 degrees F). Sprinkle with 4 teaspoons Parmesan cheese.

Steps:

• 1. Ingredients out • Kettle boiled • Large frying pan, high heat • Large lidded casserole pan, high heat • Food processor (bowl blade)
  2. START COOKING On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with sea salt, black pepper, fennel seeds and the rosemary leaves. Fold over the paper, then bash and flatten the chicken to 1.5cm thick with a rolling pin.
  3. Put the chicken into the frying pan with the rapeseed oil, the bashed unpeeled garlic cloves and halved chillies, turning after about 3 or 4 minutes, until golden and cooked through.
  4. Line the beans up and cut off the stalks, put into the casserole pan, cover with boiling salted water and cook for 6 minutes with the lid on.
  5. Pick a few basil leaves for garnish, then rip off the stalks and put the rest of the bunch into the processor with the almonds, Parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
  6. Squash in the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher. Blitz until smooth, adding a ladle or two of cooking water from the beans to loosen, then season to taste.
  7. Slice the lasagne sheets up into random handkerchief shapes and add to the beans to cook for a couple of minutes. Halve or quarter the tomatoes, add to the chicken and give the pan a shake.
  8. Stir the spinach into the pasta pan, then drain, reserving a cupful of the starchy cooking water. Return the pasta, beans and spinach to the pan, pour in the pesto from the processor and stir together, loosening with splashes of cooking water until silky.
  9. Slice the chicken breasts in half and serve with the tomatoes and chilli spooned over the top. Finely grate a little extra Parmesan over the pasta, then sprinkle everything with basil leaves.