Occasionally, The Husband does come up with some lovely ideas for me to try out in the kitchen—long-time readers will remember that the bacon-crumble apple pies were his idea.
As usual, we bought our weekend chicken from the farmers market, and that chive pesto was still hanging around in the fridge—bright and perky, by the way, even over a week old. I love those glass snap-lock containers! He suggested we combine them both, putting the pesto under the skin. Since it was a cold and rainy Sunday yesterday, a roast chicken seemed just the thing for dinner.
After snuggling on the sofa and watching The Adventures of TinTin (which was just okay, sadly), I jumped in the kitchen. The chicken was ready for the oven in no time, and I cleaned some purple carrots and a Japanese yam to go in with it. Not only did I put the pesto under the skin, I rubbed the rest on top of the skin and shoved some inside the cavity too. I then drizzled it with a bit more oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and in it went to a very hot oven: 425 degrees F.
After 20 minutes, I added the veg and covered the breast with some prosciutto. At that point, I think The Husband started doing a little happy dance.
Oh. My. God. This was one of the best chickens yet! For those of you out there who like chicken, make this recipe now. For you vegans and vegetarians out there, I say roast some tofu or seitan slices in that pesto. It’s some tasty stuff. I did want to try my hand at home made gnocchi to go with this pesto, but I didn’t have time this weekend. Any favorite gnocchi recipes out there, please share!
Here’s some pictures of last night’s dinner:
tinykitchenstories 
Ooo, heavenly! I love a good roast chook and the use of delicious pesto under the skin sounds perfect, oh yeah & crispy prosciutto too 🙂 yum!!!
I was really pleased with the result! I think it was the pine nuts that helped it stay so moist..oh yeah, and the prosciutto! 🙂
You had me at pesto. When you added the prosciutto, I fainted. 🙂
See, you and The Husband *are* kindred spirits!
Unfortunately, I don’t eat prosciutto but I bet it was fabulous. 🙂
Even without the prosciutto (leftovers tonight), it was fabulous!
Sounds great! I made a similar chicken dish a few nights ago, placing fresh basil leaves under the skin – the jus it created was delicious!
That sounds lovely! I wish I had more fresh herbs like that growing in the garden. Thanks for the brilliant idea!