Chef Eve Wine 101 Makes Her First Pesto Sauce!

This recipe looked easy. When I got home with the ingredients and started to prep things I noticed words like “make ahead” “chill” and “food processor.” I’m Cuisinart challenged. Far too many attachments for me to master, yet, so I called in the Chief to set me up. It actually was a lot faster as I didn’t have to chop the basil or garlic ahead of time – duh. We paired it with a Phifer Pavitt Sauvignon Blanc (which one winemaker I know would call a “wet nap for the mouth”) as it has great fruit and not an over-abundance of acidity and worked well to clear our palates between bites. My meager changes to the recipe are in italics below:

Tortellini with Chicken and Pesto

Yield: Serves 4

ingredients

2 large bunches fresh basil (about 4 cups loosely packed leaves.) One of those plastic packages Ralph’s sells was perfect.
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 garlic cloves (I used five, heck, I’m Italian, gotta have more garlic all the time!)
2 tablespoons pine nuts

1 pound fresh cheese tortellini (I bought frozen as the Italian deli near me sells it that way.)

2 cups diced cooked chicken
Additional grated Parmesan cheese

preparation

Puree first 5 ingredients in processor until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper – I didn’t add any salt until it was on my plate. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of pesto to seal. Cover; chill.)

Cook tortellini in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water.

Combine tortellini, chicken and 1 cup pesto in heavy large skillet (I used my pasta pan) over medium heat. Toss until mixture is heated through, adding reserved cooking water and additional pesto by tablespoonfuls until sauce coats pasta. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. Pass additional Parmesan.