Chicken Pesto with Mushroom Cauliflower Rice
At the beginning of this week I made Pine Nut Pistachio Basil Pesto and I promised to follow up with a recipe. Here it is!
This is an easy main course too. If you do not have time, you can buy pesto in the store, but your homemade will be more delicious and healthier, believe me. You can prepare it in advance, it will only take 15 minutes, and can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
I’m experimenting to make perfect gluten-free gnocchi to pair with this pesto sauce, but I’m not there yet. I hope I can come back with delicious gnocchi soon.
As a side I made cauliflower rice with mushroom. It is a very popular side dish in gluten and grain free eating community. Kyara made a very delicious cauliflower “couscous” and a “risotto” earlier, try them too! Really big advantage of cauliflower its carbohydrate (CH) content, just 5 gram CH in 100 gram cauliflower against rice’s 23 gram CH. It’s recommended for keto diet, for people who wants to lose weight and eat healthy.
I used almond cream but if you only have almond milk at home, that is not problem, simply add a bit of tapioca flour into the sauce at the end and it will be creamy. The reason I use almond milk in my recipes is because it’s relatively neutral in flavor. I do not recommend substituting with another nut milk. Cashew nut milk could work maybe, but coconut milk gives a very different taste. This pesto has a distinctive taste and I like it to remain dominant.
Chicken Pesto with Mushroom Cauliflower Rice
Ingredients
Chicken Pesto
- 360 gram chicken breast filet
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp pine nut pistachio basil pesto I prefer homemade, check our recipe
- 200 ml almond cream or almond milk
- 1 tsp tapioca flour if you use almond milk instead of almond cream
- salt and pepper
Mushroom Cauliflower Rice
- 1 small cauliflower
- 1 shallot finely cut
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250 gram mushroom sliced
- 10 pcs basil leaves plus extra for decoration finely sliced
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts into 1.5 cm wide strips. Season with some pinches salt and freshly ground pepper.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add chicken strips. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until the chicken meat is white.
- Add 1 tbsp pesto and sauté for 2-3 minutes, while stirring constantly.
- Add almond cream and another 1 tbsp pesto, stir and cook 2-3 minutes, until it is bubbling.
- If you use almond milk instead of almond cream, sprinkle it with 1 tsp tapioca flour at this point, cook and stir for 1-1,5 minute until is thicker and creamier.
- In another pan heat 1 tbsp olive oil and sauté shallot for 2-3 minutes, until translucent.
- Add sliced mushroom with 3 pinches salt and freshly ground pepper. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until soft, stir often.
- Add 5 pieces finely sliced basil leaves and turn heat off.
- Cut cauliflower to small florets.
- Put them into the food processor and pulse it for 1-1½ minutes, until they look like rice.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan, add cauliflower rice with 2 pinches of salt and sauté for 2-3 minutes, stir constantly. It does not have to be soft, has to be a bit crunchy like rice.
- Add sautéed mushroom to cauliflower rice, mix them and add 5 pieces finely sliced basil leaves.
- Serve the chicken breast in pesto sauce with mushroom cauliflower rice with fresh basil leaves on top.