Shrimp, Pasta, & Fresh Pesto

When I spoke with Dave Goss this morning in addition to sharing his favorite method for making and freezing pesto (see preceding post) he shared his number one favorite way of eating pesto so I had to try it!!  Wow so good.  And easy too.  Especially because once the pesto is made you only need to boil your favorite pasta, saute some shrimp in a bit of olive oil and butter sprinkled with a toss of red pepper flakes, then toss it all together with about 1/2 cup pesto or to your taste.  i added a squeeze of lemon to my dish and wow a great meal.  Brian loved it too. 

BIG THANK YOU going out to Diane for growing and giving me the basil starts and to Dave for his recipes.

Fresh Pesto from the Garden Today

Fresh Made Pesto from Today's Garden Picked Basil.

This morning I spoke with Dave Goss, my best friend Diane's husband the the official pesto maker extraordinary!! He is famous from here to Bloomington, In. where they live for the wonderful pesto he makes each summer. 

This is less than half of Diane's garden starts of Tomatoes and Basil.

Actually they gave me starts this year from their's both, Genovesi and Sweet Basil.  From these I have rooted two additional batches and have lots to cook with.  This is my version of......

Dave's Pesto:

large handful of fresh basil  rinsed and leaves removed from the large stems
3 cloves fresh garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
handful of walnuts
2 glug, glugs extra virgin olive oil
1/2-3/4 C. Parmesan cheese or Italian cheese blend
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of black pepper

Place all of these ingredients into food processor and whirl until a loose paste like consistency is achieved.  May store in the refrigerator for a couple of days or freeze until ready for use.

Basil Rooting in a Sunny Window.

Warning, the aroma of the basil is so wonderful you may become giddy!! Not to mention the rest of these fresh ingredients!!

Zucchini & Chicken Alfredo Delicious!

Tender pan fried seasoned chicken and oven fried zucchini sits top pasta and are crowned with Alfredo Sauce.

New challenges face us all and that does make life interesting I guess.  I am rethinking what I fix for us to eat because my husband is on blood thinners which interact with vitamin K.  He is recommended not to eat nearly as much salad as we normally would.  Lettuce is down to 1 C. a day and spinach, cabbage, and green peas need to be paid attention to.  These are big items in our diet so I am going to diversify!

There were 3 small zucchini in the refrigerator from last weeks offering from Joe Engelbrecht's Orchard.  So that along with 2 tenderized chicken breasts that were thawed were the inspiration for this meal.  I also wanted to limit the mess and the amount of time I had to spend in the kitchen.  Here is what developed.

Zucchini & Chicken Alfredo:

2 tenderized chicken breasts (have the butcher run them through his tenderizer or pound well with a meat maillot)
2 1/2 C. Panko bread crumbs
1/2 C. grated Parmesan Cheese
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
3 small zucchini quartered longways and made into 3-4 " lengths
1 C. buttermilk
1 pkg Knorr Alfredo sauce prepared according to package directions.
8 ounces pasta cooked Al dente (I used linguine)
3 T. oil
black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a half sheet pan with heavy duty foil.  Pour the oil onto the foil and grease the whole surface uniformly.  Set aside.

Combine the crumbs, cheese, and Ranch seasoning in a wide shallow dish (pie pan).  Dredge the chicken well on both sides and lay onto the prepared pan.  Dip the zucchini into the buttermilk, then the remaining crumbs.  Place them along side the chicken in the pan.  Sprinkle all with black pepper and bake for 30 minutes.  Then turn each piece carefully and return to the oven for 25-30 minutes more.

Meanwhile prepare the Alfredo sauce and keep it warm atop the stove.  Prepare the pasta according to package directions.  Divide the pasta between two large pasta dishes and top with the chicken and zucchini.  Drizzle desired amount of Alfredo sauce over the two dishes and serve pipping hot with a big napkin!  This was delicious, easy, and made a limited mess.  Yield 2 generous servings.

PS:  This is my new favorite way to prepare zucchini and would be just great plain or with any desired sauce.

Helpful Hint:  Set vegetable oil in a sunny window for a few hours to decrease vitamin K level for special diets.