Home Made Pesto Chicken

I was planning on making one of our family favorites for

dinner tonight.... PESTO CHICKEN!!

I had it all figured out only to discover that
I didn't have a jar of pesto in the pantry...

THEN, I stopped and thought about it...

I MADE PESTO IN THE FALL!!

I HAVE ALL THE PESTO I NEED IN MY FREEZER!

Here are a few blocks (ice cube sized) and

the bowl in 5-6 blocks all thawed & stirred! 

 The basic ingredients for my pesto chicken dish are:

pesto

cooked chicken

sliced almonds

sun dried tomatoes

pasta

 I boiled down a chicken (that we raised!) cooled it

and picked the meat off!! AND, I have almost

 3 quarts of chicken broth for a soup!!

 OK, my second dilemma was...  I didn't have any sun dried

tomatoes on hand either!  :( 

THE POOR PLANNING ON MY PART

turned into a terrific brainstorm!

I roasted 4 tomatoes (sliced, sprinkled with a little bit

of oil & garlic powder on a baking sheet).

 Roasted at 400* for about 20+ minutes... and YUM!!

I think I like this even better then the way I've been

making this dish over the past few years!

 I used ravioli instead of angel hair pasta!!

Boil the ravioli (or other pasta) until cooked, drain

and return to the pot.

Add the cooked chicken ... bite sized pieces,

sliced almonds (amount varies on amount of pasta)

I think I used about 3/4 cup.

Mix the chicken & almonds in then add the

pesto and re-stir well! NOW... add the final touch

roasted tomatoes!! Gently mix... and serve!

I may look odd, but the flavor was phenomenal!

GROWN AT HOME:

chicken (grown & processed at home)

basil (grown at home & made into pesto)

these tomatoes weren't grown at home,

but they were roasted at home!!

(This summer some of our home grown

tomatoes will be designated for roasting!)
Now, to check out making my own pasta!!

Shared on Simple Lives Thursday 44th Edition!!
Check out the awesome ideas everyone is sharing this week!!