Chicken Pesto Sandwich

My sister Susie and I have been trying out new recipes this summer since we both seem to have a lot of spare time.  We had some spinach walnut pesto left from our pasta lunch last week so we wanted to use the leftovers for this week’s lunch (I’ve added my recipe for the pesto below).  So after doing some thinking last night we decided to put together some chicken pesto sandwiches.  I’ve had a good chicken pesto sandwich from the Zanzibar Café located at my school, which is really good,  so I tried to recreate the similar flavors for today’s lunch.  Assembling the sandwiches was a cinch since the pesto was already made and the fresh ciabatta bread from Bread and Cie the Wuz (aka Susie) and I picked up made a huuuge difference in the overall taste.  If you can get your hands on freshly baked bread for this sandwich (or any sandwich for that matter), do it!

Spinach walnut pesto

2 cups of chopped spinach

A handful of walnuts, chopped

2 cloves of garlic

½ cup of parmesan cheese

olive oil (I just eyeball it as I go)

salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a food processor (or a blender) throw in all of the ingredients. 

2. Pour in some of the olive oil and blend it up.  If the mixture seems too dry add more olive oil and blend.  Remember that you can always add more oil rather than take it away so don’t get too oil happy if you’re not sure how much to use. 

3. Blend the ingredients up until you end up with a thick, bright green goopy goodness. 

Chicken pesto sandwich (serves 2)

2 ciabatta rolls, sliced in half (or any bread of your choice)

2 chicken breasts

2 slices of mozzarella cheese (I actually cut up string cheese because I didn’t have slices)

½ avocado, sliced

Approximately 4 tablespoons of pesto (or however much you want!)

1 tomato, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

olive oil

salt and pepper

1. Start by pouring about 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan with the heat at medium.  When the oil heats up, place the garlic in the pan and remove once they start browning.

2. You can cut the chicken into strips before cooking or cut after, like I did.  Season the chicken breasts using salt and pepper before placing them in the pan to cook. 

3. When one side of the chicken turns golden brown, flip, and let the other side cook.  Covering the pan using a lid helps the chicken cook faster. 

4. While the chicken is finishing up on the stove, set your oven to broil and toast up the slices of bread with mozzarella on top until the cheese melts.  And for all you garlic lovers, I minced the garlic used for infusing the oil and sprinkled it on top of the cheese.

5. When the bread is done toasting and chicken is no longer pink, begin assembling the sandwiches.  Spread pesto on the slice without the cheese.  Finish by placing some pieces of chicken on each of the bottom slices, then tomatoes, and avocado.