Regular readers will know that I am all about easy recipes, especially those that involve as little washing up as possible. (Aha, cookbook idea “Bumbles of Recipes that don’t involve much washing up”, must remember that one, if you’re a cookbook publishing person feel free to contact me!). I love a roast dinner but hate on a Sunday evening to have to wade through the pots and pans, (which is why my other half ends up doing it) so this recipe that I found on the old reliable BBC Good Food website had instant appeal to the whole family.
Naturally, I didn’t have all of the ingredients to hand but the ones that I did worked very well, there was only one roasting dish for washing up and everyone loved it. (Slight lie, the two year old loved the chicken and potatoes but declared the veggies “YOCK”, but that’s par for the course, and the four year old loved the veggies but wasn’t so sure about the chicken being so pesto-y).
I’m definitely making this again, and I think I might chance it with red pesto next time for a change. It goes without saying that the nicer the pesto you use, the better this will taste. If you make too much the leftovers will make for a tasty salad.
Pesto Roast Chicken and Vegetables
Ingredients (2 adults, multiply as necessary)
250g baby new potatoes
1 large courgette, diagonally sliced
1 red onion, cut into wedges ( I didn’t have one)
1 pepper- yellow or red, seeded and cut into chunk
6 firm plum tomatoes, halved, or use cherry tomatoes like we did
12 black olives , pitted – not essential, if you don’t like them don’t use them
2 skinless boneless chicken breast fillets , about 150g/5oz each (or up this and up the oil/pesto mix)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 rounded tbsp green pesto
Preheat the oven to 180C. Do all your chopping and slicing of veg. Place the veg in a roasting tray, nicely spread out. Leave the olives til last.
Cut three or four diagonal lines in the top of each chicken breast with a sharp knife and then lie it on top of the veggies.
Mix the oil and pesto together well and then drizzle it all over the chicken. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the tinfoil and cook for about another 10 minutes until everything looks nicely cooked.
Enjoy!
