Crispy Pesto Potatoes

Crispy Pesto Potatoes

As if the Texas-Style Potatoes weren’t enough! Feeling Italian? You may not think about potatoes with or in Italian cuisine but these baby reds and the zestiness of pesto work together to make a sure-fire hit your entire family is sure to enjoy.

What you’ll need:

1 ½ pounds baby red potatoes, halved, cooked & drained (boiled is great)

¼ cup Basil Pesto (or if you want to go quick – buy a jar on the pasta aisle at your favorite grocery store)

How you’ll do it:

Preheat broiler. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place hot potatoes and pesto in a large bowl; toss to coat the potatoes. Spread potatoes on the cookie sheet. Broil about 5 inches from heat for about 4 or 5 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned.

Chicken Spaghetti

I've had some really unfortunate experiences with Chicken Spaghetti in the past, but I’m here to tell you – if this one works for me (the picky one) I think you will enjoy it. This is a carb-fest, but what fun is life it you can’t carb-load every now and then, right? This one is really more like a Chicken Spaghetti Bake so bear with me on the semantics :)

What you’ll need:

½ cup butter (= 1 stick)

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 ounce can of mushrooms (optional)

2 teaspoons cumin

10 ounces spaghetti (or angel hair pasta)

1 cup chicken broth

16 ounces chopped tomatoes (drained)

2 cups Velveeta, cubed

3 cups chopped, cubed or shredded cooked chicken

How you’ll do it:

Sautee butter, onion and garlic until tender. Boil spaghetti until tender. Combine all ingredients into a casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Baked Pesto Chicken

Pesto is one of the BEST things I've recently "discovered" with wonderful flavor, amazing versatility, and it tastes great any time! As a topping for chicken it will change your world - PLUS it is SO easy, it won't be a big deal to make on a weeknight.

Here's what you'll need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 c. of basil pesto (I like Classico Traditional Basil Pesto®)
1.5 c. mozzarella cheese (or any Italian blend)
Salt
Black Pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F

Place 2 tablespoons of basil pesto on the bottom of a 8x8 ceramic rectangular dish. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of chicken and place in the dish. Top chicken with the remaining basil pesto. 

Cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove aluminum foil, top chicken with cheese and bake for 5 more minutes uncovered.

Remove from oven & enjoy!

P.S. This goes GREAT with ciabetta bread as a sandwich leftover!