Easy Baked Pesto Chicken Recipe - The Food Charlatan (2024)

FAQs

Should I add anything to pesto? ›

Lemon Juice. I always add a bit of lemon juice to my pesto to brighten up the flavor without adding more salt. It's optional, but I think you'll like it!

Because its ingredients include olive oil, nuts, and cheese, pesto can be high in calories and fat. However, the fat is primarily unsaturated and may have heart health benefits. Pesto is also full of antioxidants that can help protect your cells from damage.

What does pesto taste like? Traditional pesto is a thick, green sauce that tastes bright and herby from the basil, and salty and rich from the cheeses and pine nuts. It should be garlicky, with pleasant grassiness from good quality olive oil.

Pesto, or pesto alla genovese, is a basil-based sauce that originated in Genoa, the capital of Liguria, Italy. Traditional pesto is made with basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, and Parmesan (or another type of hard Italian cheese, such as Pecorino).

Yes, pesto can be used straight from the jar and doesn't require cooking or heating. In fact, we actively discourage applying too much heat to pesto, as this will destroy many of the fresh flavours that producers work so hard to retain.

Just be aware that exposing pesto to too much heat for too long will change its flavour. Whenever possible, therefore, we add it right at the end of the cooking process to minimise any flavour loss.

PESTO SHOULD NEVER BE “COOKED”. If you cook Pesto Sauce, you change the make up of the fresh basil and cause it to turn darker in color. It is best to warm it up and use it at room temperature. If it needs to be thinned out, you can do so by adding a little water, chicken stock, cream or white wine.

It originated in the Italian city of Genoa, and is used to dress pasta and sometimes soups.

Pistachios, almonds, and walnuts or even seeds like sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin can replace the traditional pine nuts in pesto. Pretty much any edible nut tastes delicious—just make sure to toast and cool the nut before grinding them into the sauce.

Its scarcity, plus the fact that the plants are picked roots, soil, and all to ensure that only juvenile leaves make it into pesto, makes it extraordinarily expensive and something that only premium, artisan pesto makers can justify using.

What can I use instead of pine nuts in pesto? ›

Walnuts are a perfect substitute for pine nuts in pesto because walnuts blend up perfectly. They have a similar fat content as pine nuts, so they blend to a creamy consistency. Homemade pesto only needs a few simple ingredients, so every ingredient is important here.

Pesto will last in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you've stored it in the freezer, it will last for 6 months. When you're ready to use frozen pesto, thaw it overnight in the fridge or place the container of pesto in a bowl of warm water for a quicker thawing time.

Add a touch of heavy cream for creaminess and a good amount of grated parmesan cheese. As always, season your sauce with salt and pepper to taste. I like to finish the sauce with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Topping the sauce with fresh basil is also a great way to reinforce the pesto flavor.

What are some ways to use pesto sauce? Other than pairing it with pasta, pesto sauce is a great way to add flavoring to soups, dips, or vegetables. Add pesto sauce as a condiment on sandwiches or use it to make compound butter. Finally, adding pesto to scrambled eggs introduces bold flavoring to this simple dish.

For pesto sauces, use about one jar of 5.6-ounce sauce for a 16-ounce package of pasta. The amount of pesto sauce needed for pasta per person would be about . 75 ounces of sauce for each 2 ounce (about 1 cup cooked) serving of pasta.