Pesto Chicken Roll-Ups

Some of my girlfriends from home and I threw a dinner party once during college.  I will never forget that dinner party.  Mostly because that was the day I woke up with a kidney stone, but also because we made the best alfredo sauce I've ever tasted.  We also made the above pesto chicken roll-ups. When we made it that day for the dinner party, I remember my mom had the recipe--rather, the ingredients, scribbled on the back of an envelope.  Unable to find that same scrap of paper, I recreated best I could what we made that night.  This is SO simple but looks so fancy!

Start with three large chicken breasts.  Flatten them with a meat mallet, then cut them into strips.

You want them to be pretty flat, because you will be rolling them up.

Place a slice of Swiss cheese on each flattened chicken strip.

Again, you want them to be kind of thin (thinner than what I did).

Next spoon 1-2 Tbsp of pesto over each slice of cheese.  

Don't overload each piece because it will squish out if there's too much.

Starting at one end, roll each piece of chicken and secure with a few toothpicks.

Place on greased sheet of foil on a baking pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

You can remove the toothpicks once the chicken come out

of the oven; they should stay rolled up.

Pesto
3 large garlic cloves
1/2 cup pine nuts (I used macadamia nuts)
2/3 cup coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

With food processor running, drop in garlic and finely chop.  Stop motor and add nuts, cheese, salt, pepper, and basil, then process until finely chopped.  With motor running, add oil, blending until incorporated but not completely smooth.  Cover the surface with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated, for up to 1 week.

source:  recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook


Pesto Chicken Roll-Ups
1 cup pesto, homemade or store-bought
deli-thin slices of Swiss cheese, cut to fit chicken strips
3 large chicken breasts (2-2.5 pounds total)

Flatten chicken with a meat mallet until very thin.  Cut into strips.  Place one slice of Swiss cheese on top of each chicken strip.  Spoon 1-2 Tbsp pesto on top of each slice of cheese.  Starting at one end, roll chicken up and secure with several toothpicks.  Place on greased sheet of foil on baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.