pesto

Tortellini with Broccoli Pesto

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , , ,

Tonight I made the most delicious dinner and it was super fast! At first I wasn’t sure what I thought of it, but I think that’s because in my first bite I was expecting a standard pesto taste/consistency and was surprised by the broccoli (I know, I know).  This was a beautiful dish… I had some amazing broccoli and it was healthy!

Tortellini with Broccoli Pesto
Tortellini with Broccoli Pesto

Ingredients

1 bunch broccoli, trimmed and cut into florets

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 pound cheese tortellini

Directions

Cook the broccoli in a large pot of boiling water until crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool slightly; reserve the water for cooking the tortellini.

Pulse the broccoli, oil, pine nuts, Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a food processor until finely chopped, 15-20 seconds.

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water. Drain and return the tortellini to the pot. Add the broccoli pesto and 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water and toss to combine. Add more water as needed to loosen the sauce.

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Farfalle with Mint Walnut Pesto

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , , , , ,

Tonight I tried another clean eating recipe and this one was really yummy! It’s another Clean Eating Magazine recipe. It was absolutely delicious! Mike added in some sautéed mushrooms and love it as well! I even liked the wheat pasta, which to date I have hated. Enjoy!

Farfalle with Mint Walnut Pesto
Farfalle with Mint Walnut Pesto

Ingredients

1/2 packed cup fresh basil (with stems)

1/2 packed cup fresh mint (with stems)

1/4 cup toasted unsalted walnuts

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper, plus additional to taste

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

8 ounces whole-wheat farfalle

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved

9 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and quartered

Sea salt, to taste

Directions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, prepare pesto: To a food processor, add basil, mint, walnuts, Parmesan and 1/4 tsp pepper. Pulse until roughly chopped, five to seven times, scraping down bowl as needed. Add oil and lemon juice and process for 10 to 15 seconds or until a thick, slightly chunky pesto forms. (NOTE: Try to not process to a smooth paste, keep it slightly chunky.)

To boiling water, add pasta and cook al dente according to package directions. Before draining pasta, ladle about 1/2 cup cooking water into a heat-proof measuring cup and set aside. Return drained pasta to pot and add tomatoes, artichokes and pesto. Place on low heat and stir to combine. If more moisture is desired, add reserved pasta cooking water 1 tbsp at a time to achieve desired texture. Heat until vegetables are heated through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and additional pepper.

Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted Chicken with Pesto Pasta

Anna Blankenheim Cooking, Recipes , , ,

Tonight I tried another Pinterest recipe. It was for a lemon pepper panko bread crumb crested chicken with pesto linguine on the side. It was delicious, although I think it needed a lot more lemon pepper than the recipe called for – that’s the one thing I would change. I only got hints of it, when I like a lot of lemony taste.

Enjoy!

Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted Chicken
Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted Chicken

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon pepper

1 cup panko bread crumbs

3 Tbsp olive oil

8 oz linguine

1/4 cup pesto

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil.

For the chicken, set up two wide shallow dishes for the breading process. In one dish, beat egg and add milk, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. In the second dish, add breadcrumbs. Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness approximately 1/2″ thick. Dip each piece in the egg mixture, coating both sides and letting any excess drip off before transferring to the breadcrumbs. Coat both sides, lightly pressing the breadcrumbs into the chicken to ensure they are well-coated. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add chicken breasts and cook about 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Transfer to baking sheet and continue cooking in the oven until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

For the pasta, heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  Generously add salt and add pasta to boiling water.  Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.  Drain and toss with pesto sauce.