Pesto with Mustard Seed

• 4 pieces Chicken (whatever You Like, Skinless, Boneless, Etc.)
• 1 pound Pasta, Cooked And Drained With Salt And Olive Oil
• 1 package Fresh Basil (about 40 Leaves)
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 ounce, weight Pignoli Nuts (or Pine Nuts, If You Will)
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 1 ounce, weight Pecorino Romano Or Parmesan Cheese (grated), Plus More For Serving
• 4 Tablespoons Grainy Dijon Mustard
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Lime, Juiced
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

1. Prepare the pesto.
2. The easiest way is, of course, in a food processor, and the old fashioned way would be to grind it all up with a mortar and pestle.
3. You can use store-bought pesto (I prefer Pastene or Cento), but homemade pesto smells so good, is really super easy, and is such a pretty color compared to the jarred stuff (a lovely lime green color as compared to the darker green in the jars).
4. To make the pesto, wash and dry the basil leaves.
5. (I dry them by laying them out on paper towels with more paper towels laid over the top.
6. By the time Ive assembled the rest of my ingredients, theyll be sufficiently dry.)
7. I have a smaller food processor, so I have to do my ingredients in batches.
8. Ill usually start with the garlic and pignoli, remove that, then do the basil, about a half quantity at a time.
9. Once all the dry ingredients are chopped, I put them all back in the food processor with the cheese to mix all of that up before adding the olive oil.
10. Olive oil goes in last, one tablespoon at a time.
11. Add salt and pepper to taste and put it aside.
12. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
13. Prepare the mustard glaze, which is just the butter (softened of course), dijon, brown sugar and lime juice.
14. Mix all of that together well and brush about half of it over the chicken pieces.
15. Ive done this with a fryer chicken with the skin on (the glaze crusts nicely on the skin), or with boneless, skinless breasts, which is obviously more figure-friendly, still quite tasty, and works better if youre making this ahead of time for a cold pasta salad.
16. Pop the chicken in the oven for about 15 minutes, and then take it out and spoon on a good amount of the pesto, however much youd like (about 3 tablespoons is what I do).
17. The rest of the pesto is going to mix up with the pasta, which Ill get to in a second, so dont worry about that.
18. Put the chicken back in the oven (dont turn it yet).
19. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water (with a tablespoon of olive oil) to a boil.
20. Keep an eye on it and toss in the pasta when its boiling.
21. (If youre making this for a party, why not use tri-colored fusilli?
22. Its very festive looking.)
23. After about twelve minutes, take the chicken back out, turn it, and brush on the rest of the mustard glaze.
24. Be sure to get all of it!
25. Put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes to just brown it quickly on the other side.
26. When the pasta is done to your liking, drain it and mix it up with the rest of the pesto sauce.
27. When the chicken is done, spoon it right out onto the dish youre serving the pasta in, scraping the pan to get out all the sauce.
28. If youre making this ahead of time and putting it in the fridge (it will keep for about a day if tightly covered), cut up the chicken to bite-sized pieces and toss everything together.
29. Sprinkle to your liking with more romano or parmesan.

chicken, pasta, fresh basil, olive oil, nuts, garlic, romano, mustard, brown sugar, butter, salt

Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/main-courses/pesto-with-mustard-seed/ (may not work)