Pesto Tuna Wrap

Canned tuna is one of my lunch staples. When I don't know what I want to eat, it's my go to and it's always good. However, tuna salad can get old. I change it up a bit, but it's still tuna salad. Well, I had some pesto left over from my chicken stuffed with ricotta, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes, so I added it to the tuna. Wow. It's like a whole new, refreshing dish.

Ingredients:
1 8-inch wheat tortilla
5-ounce can tuna, drained
1 tablespoon mayo (I tend to go really light on the mayo, so you may want to double it)
3 tablespoons pesto (I use Knorr)
sun-dried tomatoes or diced tomato (to taste)
onion, diced (to taste)
cheddar cheese, shredded (to taste, I tend to add a lot)

Directions:
Mix the tuna, mayo, pesto, tomatoes, and onion together in a bowl. Spread the mixture down the center of the tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese then fold the sides over the tuna mixture. Now, I like my tortilla warmed in the microwave, just 30 seconds, but I know a lot of people blanch at warmed canned tuna, so you don't have to warm it.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Ricotta, Pesto, and Sun-dried Tomatoes

This dish came together because I just happened to have all four of these ingredients in the refrigerator and I needed to make dinner. I had made the sun-dried tomatoes a few days ago without any plan for them other than letting Eric snack on them. I had a little ricotta that needed to be used before it expired, and I happened to pick up the pesto at the store on a whim. It all just came together into one delicious dinner.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoon ricotta cheese
2 tablespoon mozzarella, shredded
2 tablespoon Parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes*
3 tablespoon pesto**
pepper, to taste
1 egg white
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I usually make my own by crushing saltine crackers)

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch pain with cooking spray.

With a mallet, thin the chicken breasts to a 1/4-inch thickness. Mix the ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and pepper together in a small bowl. Spread half the mixture on each chicken breast and roll the breasts up tight.

Place the egg whites and breadcrumbs each in a different shallow bowl. Dip the chicken rolls in the egg then in the breadcrumbs, coating it. Set the chicken breasts seam side down in the baking dish. Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

*I make my own sun-dried tomatoes out of cherry tomatoes. If you're using sun-dried tomatoes out of can, you'll want to chop them up.

**I use Knorr pesto mix to make my pesto. But you can use jarred pesto or homemade.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Pesto Lasagna Rolls

I've had this recipe in my collection for a few years and I can't believe I haven't shared it yet. I love your typical lasagna . . . the cheeses, the pasta, the tomato sauce. But sometimes it's nice to change things up. I do that with pesto.

Pesto Lasagna Rolls with Meat Sauce

A small batch with just tomato sauce.

Ingredients:
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup pesto sauce*
8 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 cup tomato sauce**
1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of shallow casserole dish.

In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, Parmesan, 1/4 cup mozzarella, and pesto sauce together. Season with salt and pepper.

 
Evenly divide the cheese mixture between the 8 noodles, spreading the mixture over the entire noodle.

Roll the noodles and place the lasagna rolls seam-side down in the casserole dish.

 Pour tomato sauce over the top of the rolls. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese over top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Pesto Sauce

*I prepare my pesto sauce using Knorr's powdered pesto mix. One day I hope to make my own basil pesto sauce. If you make pesto sauce, make sure it's cold before you add it to the cheese mixture or else you will melt the cheese. You can also use jarred pesto sauce.

**Prego Roasted Red Pepper is my all time favorite tomato sauce. If you read this blog, you probably already know that. But you can use any tomato sauce or meat sauce that you like.

You could also use this recipe to make pesto stuffed shells.

 Enjoy!

~Krissy

Pesto Chicken Lasagna with Artichokes and Fire-Roasted Tomatoes

I love tomato sauce. It goes on just about anything, your pasta dishes: spaghetti, lasagna, goulash; your meats: meatballs, chili, chicken Parmesan; and is great for dipping bread. But sometimes you just want something different, something other than yet another dish covered in tomato sauce. That's where this lasagna comes in. It has so many of my favorite foods in it: pesto, chicken, artichokes, fire-roasted tomatoes . . . oh so good.

Ingredients:
12 lasagna noodles
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 14-oz can artichokes hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 14.5-oz can fire-roasted tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup prepared pesto (I used Knorr pesto sauce mix)
1 cup ricotta cheese
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried basil, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the noodles according to package directions. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, artichokes, fire-roasted tomatoes,and pesto. Set aside.

In another large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoon basil, and milk.

Coat a little bit of the cheese mixture on the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Cover it with three lasagna noodles then add half of the chicken mixture on top and another layer of noodles. Add half of your cheese mixture, a layer of noodles, the rest of the chicken mixture, and then your last layer of noodles. Spread on the last half of the cheese mixture, sprinkle with remaining cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 tablespoon basil.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Variations:
I love when the people I cook for get excited about my food and help me come up with ways to make it better. When I first made this lasagna, we all agree it was good but still needed that oomph. Eric's mom suggested more pesto and fire-roasted tomatoes (which the recipe above reflects). I thought it needed more cheese (the recipe also reflects this). Even Eric's dad had a suggestion: replace the chicken with a spicy sausage. Next, time I will try this recipe with Eckrich Jalapeno and Cheddar Smoked Sausage. I think it'll be good. I would also like to try a version with sun-dried tomatoes instead of fire-roasted. When I was eating leftover lasagna, I added a couple dashes of hot sauce on top . . . very, very good.

Enjoy!


~Krissy