Chicken baked with pesto

3 servings

50 minutes

To make everything perfect, you need to make the pesto yourself - only then will you get a very aromatic, rich mass that will firmly saturate the chicken flesh: fresh garlic and basil will merge firmly with the meat, and the finished chicken after being in the oven will also smell of fresh sauce. To go with the chicken, you should prepare an equally rich-flavored salad of potatoes, arugula, red onions and tomatoes. Attention! Pesto is needed not only to coat the chicken with it, it will also have to be tucked under its skin.

Energy value per serving

• Calories: 1266.6
• Proteins: 79.9g
• Fats: 90.2g
• Carbohydrates: 36.5g

Ingredients

• Chicken legs: 6 pc
• Green basil: 100 g
• Pine nuts: 20 g
• Vegetable oil: 20 ml
• Garlic: 4 clove
• Olive oil: 100 ml
• Lemon: 1 pc
• Arugula: 100 g
• Parmesan cheese: 50 g
• Potato: 400 g
• Cherry tomatoes: 100 g
• Salt: to taste
• Red onion: 100 g
• Ground black pepper: to taste

Cooking steps

1. Prepare all the ingredients. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

2. In a blender, turn basil, cheese, olive oil, juice of one lemon, pine nuts, and garlic into pesto sauce.

   Required ingredients:

   • Green basil: 100 g
   • Parmesan cheese: 50 g
   • Olive oil: 100 ml
   • Lemon: 1 piece
   • Pine nuts: 20 g
   • Garlic: 4 cloves

3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

   Required ingredients:

   • Salt:  to taste
   • Ground black pepper:  to taste

4. To fill the space between the skin and meat in chicken thighs with pesto, carefully insert your hand between the skin and meat, trying not to tear the skin, and also coat the thighs with sauce on top. Set aside some pesto.

   Required ingredients:

   • Chicken legs: 6 pieces
   • Green basil: 100 g
   • Parmesan cheese: 50 g
   • Olive oil: 100 ml
   • Pine nuts: 20 g
   • Garlic: 4 cloves

5. Cut the potatoes into wedges, drizzle with vegetable oil, and season with salt and pepper.

   Required ingredients:

   • Potato: 400 g
   • Vegetable oil: 20 ml
   • Salt:  to taste
   • Ground black pepper:  to taste

6. Place the chicken and potatoes on a baking tray and send them to the oven for 30 minutes.

7. Slice the onion into thin rings and cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

   Required ingredients:

   • Red onion: 100 g
   • Cherry tomatoes: 100 g

8. Mix onion with arugula and halved tomatoes.

   Required ingredients:

   • Red onion: 100 g
   • Arugula: 100 g
   • Cherry tomatoes: 100 g

9. Take out the baking tray with potatoes and chicken, mix the potatoes with a salad of arugula, tomatoes, and onions. Dress with pesto sauce.

   Required ingredients:

   • Potato: 400 g
   • Arugula: 100 g
   • Cherry tomatoes: 100 g
   • Red onion: 100 g
   • Green basil: 100 g
   • Parmesan cheese: 50 g
   • Olive oil: 100 ml
   • Pine nuts: 20 g
   • Garlic: 4 cloves

10. Serve the chicken with the prepared salad.