Chicken, Basil, and Mushroom Fettuccine

Meal for 2 of Chicken, Basil, and Mushroom Fettuccine was accomplished with some terpidation.

Tonight I cooked one of the four meals I have planned for the week. The fact that I actually followed through with making this meal is quite a feat for me, and hopefully my success tonight will mean that I'll be able to follow through with the rest of the week's meals.

The meal tonight, which I prepared for just Jeff and myself since the kids were at a birthday party, is chicken, basil, and mushroom fettuccine, a recipe which Zesty Cook recommended.

For starters, I had to make some basil pesto using fresh basil, something I'd never done before…and may not do again considering the cost of fresh basil.

Here's the pesto recipe that I ended up using. It's my own all-basil, all Parmesan version of this recipe from AllRecipes. I'll be using this same pesto, what's left of it anyway, for another meal this week: chicken, basil, and spinach quesadillas.

Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1 c. fresh basil, packed
• 1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T olives, chopped
• 1/2 c. pine nuts, toasted
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan (the real stuff from the cheese section)

Directions:

1. Blend the basil, oil, olives, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor until well blended.
2. Add the cheese and blend until smooth.
3. Store in a tight fitting jar and refrigerate for up to a week.

For the chicken fettuccine, the main dish, here's the extremely easy-to-follow recipe.

Chicken, Basil, and Mushroom Fettuccine

Ingredients:

• Extra virgin olive oil for cooking chicken (I used probably 2-3 tablespoons )
• 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasted, cubed
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 cups mushrooms, roughly chopped
• Basil pesto (see the recipe above)
• Fettuccine, cooked

Directions:

1. Cook chicken in olive oil over medium-high heat.
2. When chicken is nearly cooked, add garlic and saute for 3 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
4. Add 4-5 tablespoons of basil pesto and heat through, stirring constantly.
5. Toss with fettuccine and serve. (I topped mine with a little more grated Parmesan.)

Both Jeff and I thought this meal was delicious. Jeff even said he can see this becoming part of our regular menu rotations (such as it is). My only thought is that I'm going to have to find a cheaper way to make the pesto. But if I can figure that out, and if the kids are willing to try it, I'll gladly make this dish again.