Top Chef Challenge #1

I've always enjoyed pesto, but I have never tried to actually cook with it.  Honeslty, I couldn't even find it at the grocery store (it can be found in the pasta aisle or refrigerated pasta aisle).  So this was my attempt at giving it a shot...

Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

12 oz bowtie pasta

4 chicken breasts cutlets

Salt

Pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped, about 1 cup

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup white wine or stock

8-16 ounces of fresh spinach

1/4 cup (regular) cream

1/4 cup (or more) pesto

Directions

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente.
2 While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and brown the chicken breasts on both sides over medium-high heat. They don't need to be cooked all the way through, just browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

3 Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the onions cook, slice the chicken into strips.
4 When the onions are just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the white wine or stock and boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by half.

5 Add the spinach and the undercooked pieces of chicken to the pan. Using tongs, turn them over to coat them with the juices in the pan. Continue to cook, turning and stirring often, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through, about 2 minutes.

6 Turn off the heat and add some black pepper, the pile of cooked chicken pieces and the pesto. Stir to combine. Drain the pasta put it in a large bowl. Add the cream to the saute pan and stir well to combine. Add the contents of the pan to the bowl with the pasta and mix well. Serve at once. Literally, by the time I started to eat mine it was already getting cold!





Garlic Oregano Zucchini

Ingredients
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 med zucchini, sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, cook and stir the garlic in oil over medium heat for 1 minute.  Add the zucchini, oregano, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir for 4-6 mins or until the zucchini is crisp-tender.

Voila!






And my favorite part of cooking....