Recipes

[house_cat]

I'm having guests for dinner on Saturday.  They requested Italian cuisine, which is usually a no-brainer for me.  However, I'm having a little trouble with one item.

Here's the menu so far:

Antipasto

Caesar Salad

Caprese Chicken (basil pesto, tomato, mozzarella)

Pasta

Garlic foccaccia

Tiramisu (store bought) or Italian Cream Cake 

Here's my dilemma - what kind of pasta sauce willl complement the caprese chicken?  Perhaps it would be better to go with a pasta salad?  Any suggestions will be appeciated and recipes... even better!

Thank you!

[Jasmine19]

A nice light pesto sauce would complement the chicken and go better than a red sauce. A lemon garlic sauce would also be nice.

[Spacrazy]

Definitely pasta salad.  

[deepwaterdotter]

My recipe for Caprese Chicken on the grill:

1/4 cup chopped basil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

6 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4" slices, pat dry, and cut in half

1 1/2 lb chicken cutlets, patted dry

2 big tomatoes, cored and cut into 1/2" slices

Mix basil, vinegar, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in bowl.  Whisk in oil to combine.  Place 3 tbsp mixture in bowl and toss in mozzarella to coat.  Set aside rest of dressing for later.

Season both sides of cutlets with salt and pepper.  Over hot grill, cook chicken until browned, and tomatoes until lightly charred (2-3 minutes per side).  Move cutlets to a platter and top with tomato slices.  Drizzle with rest of dressing.  Cover tomatoes with a layer of mozzarella and tent loosely with foil for 10 minutes.  

[IamMrsG]

I'm supplying the following recipe with a double reasoning.

1.  By combining your Caesar Salad and Caprese Chicken into one course, it might be helpful in simplifying your ambitious (but delicious) menu.

2.  The dressing in the recipe could be used for your Caprese Chicken.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 garlic cloves – 2 peeled and 1 minced

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

12 slices French bread

12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

6 to 8 anchovy fillets (Optional)

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

8 cups Romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 Prepare grill.

In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of the oil, the minced garlic, lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper.  Lightly brush 1 side of each bread slice with a little of the oil mixture.  Put the chicken on a plate and rub remaining oil mixture over both sides.  Set aside.

In a food processor, combine the lemon juice, anchovies, mayonnaise and the remaining olive oil, salt and pepper.  With the machine running, drop the whole garlic cloves through the feed tube and process until puréed.  Scrape the dressing into a large salad bowl.

Grill the chicken 4 inches from the heat for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until cooked through.  Transfer to a clean plate.

Grill the bread about 1 minute, without turning, until toasted.  Cut bread slices in half crosswise.

Mix the chicken juices that have collected on the plate into the dressing.  Carve the chicken on an angle into thin strips.  Add the Romaine and Parmesan to the dressing and toss to coat.  Add the toast and chicken and toss again; serve immediately.

[novamc1]

Pasta salad seems like a good idea.

Don't know how well this fits in with your other foods, but I've taken a liking to a fresh  Caesar/spinach/ pasta salad from a good-quality "gourmet" deli department at one of our best grocery stores.

It consists  of small shell pasta, fresh spinach which of course softens in the dressing, some small pieces of artichoke, mixed with a delicious Caesar dressing that seems to contain plenty of parmesan.

I can't identify the ingredient that gives the mixture a little heat and zip.

Love your whole menu----you're more ambitious than I am when it comes to quantity of dishes for one meal.  Can I come?

[ahoymate]

No to pasta salad & no to pesto pasta. You already have pesto with the chicken & pasta salad, ugh It's not a fav. The pasta gets soft & soggy. I'd go with the other 2 suggestions. Enjoy

[persiflage]

All these foods sound yummy!  I would do a puttanesca sauce and go heavy on the kalamata olives, light on the tomatoes. 

[ECBG]

---

@novamc1 wrote:

Pasta salad seems like a good idea.

Don't know how well this fits in with your other foods, but I've taken a liking to a fresh  Caesar/spinach/ pasta salad from a good-quality "gourmet" deli department at one of our best grocery stores.

It consists  of small shell pasta, fresh spinach which of course softens in the dressing, some small pieces of artichoke, mixed with a delicious Caesar dressing that seems to contain plenty of parmesan.

I can't identify the ingredient that gives the mixture a little heat and zip.

Love your whole menu----you're more ambitious than I am when it comes to quantity of dishes for one meal.  Can I come?

---

@novamc1 That salad sounds yummy.  What store please?

[novamc1]

@ECBG 

The pasta salad I mentioned comes from Publix, one of the better stores we have around here in Georgia---and where I live now, we have PLENTY of grocers.  Choice is amazing.

By the way, I just looked up online  recipes for Caesar pasta salads and found many to choose from.

A future cooking project, maybe.