Chicken Pesto Plus

It’s literally pesto but better—we add a little bit more fat and more alliums, we have a little fun with the citrus, and mix it all together. The way that I write recipes is to try to teach you cooking intuition. SOOOOO, take these measurements loosely; they are not perfect. You need to use your senses—your taste, smell, touch, ears—to make sure there is balance.

Please read the whole recipe before you start

Ingredients

For the Pesto:

• 1/2 cup pine nuts

• 1/2 cup pepitas

• 1 cup or equivalent chunk Parmigiano Reggiano

• Enough olive oil

• 2 heads of garlic

• Freshly cracked black pepper until peppery but not spicy

• Diamond Crystal kosher salt – if it feels too salty, just add more lemon. But don't be scared of salt.

• Green basil, enough to make pesto bright green (I used 3 clamshells from Amazon Fresh)

• 1 1/2 lemons (2 if you accidentally put too much salt)

For the Chicken:

• Skin-on chicken breast

• Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• Fresh black pepper (No pre-ground black pepper)

• Rigatoni #22

For Finishing the Pasta:

• Butter, like 1/3 of a stick

• 1 whole diced shallot

For Plating:

• Kumquats or lemon zest

• Bellwether ricotta

• Chili flakes

• Maldon salt for your chicken

• Olive oil (for drizzling)

Instructions

Step 1: Start the Pasta Water

1. Start your pasta water, add enough salt for it to taste like the ocean, and try to remember that the ocean is HELLA salty. You'll need this later during chicken cooking, but start it now.

Step 2: Make the Pesto

1. Toast your nuts – No oil, super hot pan, and constantly sauté until nutty and aromatic in the room. Everyone in the house will know that you are toasting nuts.

2. Toast your garlic – Place two heads in aluminum foil, drench it in olive oil, and throw it in the oven on high until it's dark brown and soft.

3. Blend – Add nuts, basil, freshly cracked black pepper, Parmesan, garlic, and lemon into the blender.

4. Add olive oil – Pour in just enough to cover the dry ingredients and make a vortex in the blender.

5. Cool it down – Once the slurry is formed, add a small amount of cold water—just enough to cool down your mixture. (Hot blender = brown pesto. You need to keep this as cool as possible.)

6. Finish blending – Add your basil and pulse the blender until incorporated. I encourage you to pulse so that you don't over-blend the greens and get brown doo-doo looking pesto.

7. Taste & adjust – Add salt, more pepper if needed. It should be parmy, salty, yummy, toasty, and garlicky.

Step 3: Cook the Chicken

1. Prepare the chicken – Don't be scared to pull your chicken out of the fridge an hour before you cook it. Dry off the skin, add salt and pepper directly to the skin, and let it dry out at room temperature. (This will get you a way better sear and the delicious crispy skin you've always dreamed you could make.)

2. Heat the pan – Grab a carbon steel or cast iron pan and start heating it. Once it’s about to smoke, hit it with oil, coating the whole pan (more oil than you normally use—it's borderline a shallow fry, but do you want this to be like a restaurant or not?).

3. Sear the chicken – Throw the chicken down with a grill weight or pan. YOU NEED to weigh down your chicken in the pan, or else the skin won’t evenly caramelize. Don't be scared of the heat. The burns from the oil splatter will make you look cool, and then people won't just think you're a fan of The Bear, but actually a cook.

4. Let it release – Once it's ready, the pan will let it go. I know this sounds crazy, but it will. To check, just take the weight off and try to flip it. If it's stuck, leave it longer.

5. Finish in the oven – Once you have a light, even sear, turn the pan to low and move the chicken out of the pan onto a sheet tray. Put it in the oven at 500+ degrees for about 10–15 minutes (maybe more). Crispy skin, here we come.

Step 4: Cook the Pasta & Finish the Dish

1. Cook the pasta – At this point, drop your rigatoni #22 into the hot boiling water. It should take about 8 minutes for AL DENTE. Do not overcook your pasta.

2. Sauté the shallots – In the same pan you cooked your chicken in (should be warm), throw in your shallots and sweat them out, pulling up all the chicken fond that was left behind from searing.

3. Make the sauce – Once shallots are nice and aromatic, throw in your noodles and turn off your pan. Add a small amount of pasta water and all the butter and toss until a sauce is formed.

4. Taste it – You should be able to eat this by itself; it’s that good. Add salt if necessary.

5. Add the pesto – Once this is cool, add your pesto and mix it. At this point, your partner will think you're Carmy from The Bear and fall head over heels for you.

Step 5: Plate Like a Pro

1. Check the chicken – Pull your chicken, slice it—it should be juicy. If not, you failed and should no longer cook this for your partner. Discreetly throw the chicken away and serve it with no protein.

2. Assemble the dish – Place the pasta first, then do a couple of dollops of ricotta, add some chili flakes, kumquats, and/or lemon zest.

3. Top with chicken – Place your chicken with the skin up on top.

4. Finish with flair – Drizzle with olive oil and hit it with Maldon salt.

5. Enjoy – ENJOY THIS INSANE PASTA.