Pesto Chicken with Tagliatelle with homemade pesto – Gluten-free version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Cooked pasta

1. 1
   Cook the gluten-free pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   StovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 2
   Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water before draining.

   LadleorMeasuring cup

   💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.
3. 3
   Drain.

   Colander

For the Pesto

1. 4
   Grind the leaves in a food processor with the nuts, garlic, salt and black pepper.

   Food processor

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
2. 5
   Add the Parmesan and grind.

   Food processor
3. 6
   Add the olive oil in a thin stream, while Tahini, until to a smooth sauce.

   Food processor

   💡Pesto keeps in the fridge about two weeks in a closed jar, covered with a layer of olive oil. The top layer darkens from the air, and that doesn't mean it has spoiled.

   💡The thin stream is everything: fat that goes in too fast can't bind, and the sauce breaks. For mayonnaise and hollandaise, if this happens, start with a fresh yolk and slowly add the broken sauce to it; if the sauce is too thick, thin it with a teaspoon of water.

To assemble

1. 7
   Season the chicken breast with salt and black pepper.
2. 8
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over high heat and fry the chicken cubes 3–4 minutes per side, until golden. Remove and set aside.

   StoveFrying pan

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
3. 9
   Add the garlic and fry 30 seconds, until fragrant.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 10
   Take the skillet off the heat, add the pasta and the pesto with a little of the cooking water, and toss until the sauce coats the pasta.

   Frying pan

   💡Don't heat pesto on the stove: heat turns the basil black. The heat of the pasta and the cooking water is enough.
5. 11
   Return the chicken cubes, add the lemon juice, sprinkle the Parmesan on top and serve immediately.