Bowtie Pasta with Chicken and Pesto

I love the garden harvests of summer and last night, I made a dinner that tasted like summer, with a few things from the backyard!

Pesto:
2 cups (packed) basil leaves (remove the tough stems)
1/4 c pine nuts
3 cloves garlic (more or less depending on your vampire status and taste buds)
put the above ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well chopped

1/2 c good olive oil
add in a stream and pulse to incorporate

remove from processor bowl and stir in
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Let sit at room temperature until the next step is done


1 package of bowtie pasta (or your favorite shape) cooked according to the package's directions.

3 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 clove garlic
1T olive oil
Heat the oil in a deep skillet, add garlic, cook chicken until no pink remains

Turn off the heat and add
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved
cover for 4-5 minutes to warm the tomatoes

Add the cooked pasta and the pesto and toss, coating everything with that yummy greenness.

Serve with crusty Italian bread and a nice tossed salad.

Italian Stuffed Chicken Breasts

4-6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 8 oz package of fresh mozzarella, diced to 1/4" dice
1 small vidallia onion, coarsely diced
1 qt cherry tomatoes
1 red pepper diced
1/4 lb spicy capicolla, fried like bacon and chopped in chunks
fresh basil (about 15-20 leaves divided)
3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
2T olive oil
1 #28 can diced tomatoes
1t sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Make a pocket in each of the chicken cutlets, keeping the opening as small as possible. I put in the knife and then move the blade to each end making a nice size pocket with a small opening. Set these babies aside.

Add olive oil to a deep saute pan, add garlic and heat. Add cherry tomatoes and roast until they start to pop. Swirl in the pan to coat them with oil and garlic. Add the onion and the red pepper, saute until soft. Set aside.

Dice up the mozzarella, add about 2/3 cup of tomato/pepper/onion mixture. Toss in the fried capicolla, and about half of the basil leaves, chiffonaded (if that is a word)

This is the stuffing for your chicken. Mix it up and evenly fill up the pockets in the chicken breasts. Using a wooden toothpick, close the opening so the stuffing doesn't fall out on cooking. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes on a cookie sheet.

To the remaining tomato/onion/pepper mixture, add the can of diced tomatoes, the remaining basil, the sugar. Using a stick blender, puree coarsely to create a sauce. (I moved it into a sauce pan so it didn't shoot all over the kitchen.) Let simmer for 15-20 minutes to mellow all the ingredients.

Remove the chicken from the oven and saute both sides in that sauce pan that once housed those roasted tomatoes, adding a little olive oil if needed. Brown them so they look nice and tasty.

Serve with something nice and green (we did peas, or on a bed of steamed spinach) and top with some of that nice fresh tasting sauce. Enjoy.