Having a variety of fresh herbs in pots on the deck is one of the coolest things about summer.
Fresh herbs make it so easy to add an herbaceous tone to any salad, side or main dish. Softer herbs like basil and tarragon are especially nice additions to salads and vinaigrettes. Herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme lend themselves to meats like pork and lamb.
One highlight in my herb garden is basil. Typically, I have an abundance of it. So the first thing that comes to mind when using it is making pesto.
Today's recipe is one of my summertime grilled chicken recipes. And it makes great use of basil pesto. What's different about this recipe is it takes a traditional pesto into three different directions. A version is used as the marinade, sans the cheese. You use another version for the stuffing in the chicken. A final version is used as a finishing sauce to serve on the side. It has a few steps, but it comes together using a food processor so it doesn't take long.
While this recipe doesn't call for the traditional pine nuts, you could add them if you like. You also can use walnuts. Because basil darkens when it's cut, I added some fresh parsley so the pesto keeps its vibrant color. You could also use spinach, which will help with the color. If you have pesto leftovers, store them in the freezer to keep.
Although most store-bought pesto typically has cheese in it, if you don't have basil readily available to make your own, you can use it. My favorite store-bought pestos are those from Sam's Club and Costco. They cost about $8 for a good-size jar and are worth it. Once you open the jar, they too don't last very long. Freeze leftovers in small containers or in ice cube trays. Once frozen, pop them out of the trays and store in freezer-quality bags.
This recipe calls for skin-on and bone-in chicken breasts. You can remove the skin if you like. I like keeping it on because it helps keep the chicken moist during grilling. Try to buy chicken breasts that are not too huge and are uniform in size.
If you buy the breasts with the bone-in, remove the bones and save them for making stock.
You'll need to cut a deep horizontal pocket in the thick side of the chicken breast; just make sure you don't cut it all the way through. Having the chicken really cold helps making the pocket easier.
Finally, carry over that herbaceous taste and serve the chicken with a baby greens salad with a few basil leaves mixed in, dressed with a light vinaigrette.
GRILLED PESTO CHICKEN
Serves: 4 / Preparation time: 30 minutes (plus marinating time) / Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 pounds, (2 large or 4 small) skin-on, boneless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
Place the basil, parsley, 1/4 cup oil, garlic, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Process until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping bowl as needed.
Remove 1/4 cup pesto from processor and reserve for marinating chicken. Add Parmesan to pesto in processor and pulse until incorporated, about 3 pulses. Remove 2 heaping tablespoons of pesto for stuffing chicken.
Add the remaining 1/4 cup oil to pesto in processor and pulse until combined. Set aside for saucing cooked chicken; you should have about 1/3 cup pesto.
Starting on thick side of breast, cut a horizontal pocket in each breast about 2 1/2 inches wide, stopping 1/2 inch from edge so halves remain attached.
Season chicken, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of Parmesan pesto in pocket of each breast.
Fold the non-skin side of the breast in toward the pocket so the skin side folds over some. Using kitchen twine, tie the breast at intervals.
Place stuffed breasts in bowl and add pesto reserved for marinating. Rub pesto all over chicken, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat or prepare the grill for indirect heat. (For charcoal, place ash-covered coals on one side of the grill and replace grate. For a gas grill, light all burners to high and then turn all but one to medium-low.)
Oil the grill grate. Place chicken, skin side up, on grill away from the heat. Cover and cook about 10 minutes. Flip chicken skin-side down. If using charcoal, slide chicken to hot part of grill. Cover and cook until well browned, about 10 minutes. Using tongs, turn chicken to brown on all sides, and cook until it reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Transfer chicken to platter, tent loosely with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove twine from chicken, and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices. Serve with remaining pesto on the side.
Adapted from Cook's Country magazine, June/July 2012 issue.