Grilled Balsamic Chicken Breasts with Pesto Pasta

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

Tonight's house guests are a pair of hungry 12-year-old twins who tell me their favorite food in the world is pasta with pesto — of the standard basil, pine nut, parmesan persuasion. At this time of the year, fresh basil is abundant in my small garden and can be had by the bagful at the farmers market and other markets that stock local produce in town.

This excess of riches insist I make basil pesto often at this time of year, but — as of yet — we haven't tired of these traditional Italian flavors tossed with pasta, spread over toasted bread and layered with off-the-vine tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. So I braved the hoards of blood-sucking mosquitos, the size of bats, to harvest ingredients for the girl's dinner.

Eva and Marina eating their favorite dinner: pasta tossed with freshly made pesto.

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

Having been inspired by reader's comments, next week I plan to venture away from the standard basil and pine nut theme to incorporate other fresh herbs and nuts into the mix. Meanwhile...mangia, mangia!

Yield: 4 servings
Marinate Time: 1-3 hours
Active Time (including time to make pesto): 40 minutes

Ingredients for Grilled Balsamic Chicken Breasts

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions for Balsamic Chicken

1. Make a vinaigrette by whisking together the oil, vinegar and honey. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Place chicken breast halves in a resealable plastic bag set or in a shallow dish. Pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat chicken. Let marinate, refrigerated, 1-3 hours, turning bag occasionally.
2. Drain chicken and pat dry. Prepare gas or charcoal grill to medium heat heat. Grill for 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees), turning once. Serve with your choice of pasta tossed with pesto (recipe follows) to taste.

Ingredients for Pesto

1/2 cup pine nuts
2 large cloves of garlic, peeled
4 cups packed freshly harvested basil leaves, washed, stems and flowers removed
3/4-1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-2 cups grated Parmigianno Reggiano

Directions for Pesto

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees.
2. Toast the pine nuts and garlic in the oven until the pine nuts are golden brown, about 5-7 minutes.
3. In a food processor, puree the garlic with 2 tablespoons oil until smooth. Add the pine nuts to the bowl and, with off and on pulses, pulse until semi-pureed yet coarse. With a spatula, scrape garlic-nut mixture from the bowl into another bowl and reserve.
4. Working in batches, place the basil leaves in the food processor and, with the addition of remaining olive oil, puree until smooth. Combine basil mixture with garlic-nut mixture. Stir in Parmesan and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. The pesto will remain fresh, tightly covered, several days refrigerated. You may also spoon into ice cube trays and freeze them to use as desired.

*To sweeten and soften the flavor of the garlic and add a toasted component to the pine nut flavor, I toast them. This step may be omitted.