Pasta Recipe

Okay. I was going to post this on Facebook as a note. However, it seems that the Notes feature is no longer available. I would've posted it as a status update, but it's too long. I've been cooking more lately, and recently discovered that I really like PESTO. The first time I cooked with it, I bought a jar at the grocery store. At about $4 for not even eight ounces, I knew a homemade version would be a better option. For one thing, it would be fresh and without preservatives. Secondly, it would be using ingredients I picked myself. Thirdly; and this is the long-term vision of the idea, it would be cheaper because I could grown my own basil at home. I looked online to see how much pine nuts (the traditional Italian ingredient for pesto). At a cost of $9 a bag, this would not be a viable option if I make pesto often...<sigh>...Then, i thought about nuts I already have in the house: cashews and walnuts. Although they aren't cheap, I usually have them in the house anyway for snacking on. A couple of forums, plus Pinterest suggested that cashews or walnuts would be a nice alternative for the pine nuts. AWESOME <air guitar>. So, I bought some fresh basil, and some purple garlic. I already had the nuts, olive oil, cheese, salt and black pepper at home. I thought about adding some protein and some veggies to this, and making it a complete meal. I picked up some chicken breasts, some sliced baby portabella mushrooms, some penne, 2 smallish zucchini and 2 smallish summer squash. I got home, and went to work on putting this recipe together. 

Pesto Sauce

• 2 cups tightly packed FRESH basil leaves
• 2 cloves purple garlic (or two cloves white garlic, depending on preference)
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese (freshly grated, if you've got it)
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 unsalted cashews or walnuts

Combine the garlic, basil, salt and pepper and nuts in your food processor and pulse until well chopped and combined. While the food processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil (my Cuisinart has an attachment that does it for me). Pour mixture into a mixing bowl, and stir in the cheese.

Penne pasta

• One box of your favorite penne, cooked "al dente" according to box directions and drained.

Chicken and Vegetable saute:

• One whole chicken breast (that's two lobes in the package), sliced into small chunks
• Alternatively, you could used the breast meat from a precooked rotisserie chicken, and heat it up in a pan before combining with the rest of the ingredients. 
• One 8 ounce package of sliced baby portabella mushrooms, washed
• 2 smallish zucchini squash, washed and diced
• 2 smallish yellow squash, washed and diced 
• olive oil, for the pan
• 2 tbs melted butter, for the chicken

Cook the mushrooms in a large skillet with a couple of tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat until well-browned and fragrant (approx. 7 minutes). Drain excess liquid and put into a large mixing bowl.
Cook the squash (both types) in a large skillet with a couple of tablespoons over medium-high heat until soft and translucent (approx. 8 minutes). Drain any excess liquid and put into large mixing bowl.
Cook the chicken breast chunks with the melted butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned and no pink areas remain. Or, you can use the breast meat from that rotisserie chicken.

Combine all components in a large mixing bowl. It helps to add the pesto to the pasta while it's still hot, then add everything else.
Serve immediately with a garden salad and garlic bread.