So this started out as a Cooking Light recipe and then….

Well, I’m lucky that I can modify, substitute, and generally mess with a recipe with usually successful results…  Must be grandpa’s Italian heritage coming through the gene pool!

This recipe called for it’s own version of pesto with basil and parsley…  Well – I had cilantro cause i had made my most favorite Chili Cilantro Dressing…

But I knew I had a recipe for cilantro pesto and i could definitely use that here.

As I was gathering my ingredients I realized I had no pine nuts…  Hrmph.

I had no almonds…  Hrmph…

But I did have pumpkin seeds – remember the Chili Cilantro dressing???

So I substituted pumpkin seeds into the lovely recipe, added some red pepper flakes…  and whala – some garlic ridden yumminess that was green and would go great in my chicken spirals!

The original recipe called for pounding the chicken, putting in the pesto and then salt and peppering it.  That just would not do. So I pounded, salt and peppered, pesto-ed, rolled, added more pesto on top and then cooked!

My Chicken Pesto Spirals

2 chicken breasts

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 cilantro pesto recipe

Tooth picks

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375

Prepare small pyrex – coat with pam

Pound chicken breasts thin

Salt and pepper both sides

Put 1/4 of the pesto on each breasts (i don’t do just the middle, i hate having a piece of a roll with no filling – it get’s messy, but hey it’s worth it)

Roll breast, tuck in ends if possible, secure with tooth picks, put seam side down in prepared pan

Continue with second breast.

Put 1/4 of the pesto on top of both rolls

Cook for 15 minutes

Roll breast to other side, place last of the pesto on top of each beast.

Cook for 15 minutes.

It took almost 45 minutes for my chicken to be cooked all the way through – original recipe stated only 30 minutes – probably depends on how thin you pounded the chicken. I also had to chill my chicken for an extra hour in the fridge before cooking it. (timing was off on when dinner would be)  Just check the temp – 170 degrees.

Also take care with the pesto and don’t contaminate it with the spoon or what not that you touch the chicken with.

 

 

I really enjoyed the results, I added in some cheesy scalloped potatoes (from the box) and did another beer bread with diced green chilies, cayene powder on the cooked onions, coors lite, and nacho/taco cheese. LOVE this recipe – just throw in whatever you want!