2 Pesto Ziti, and Fried Chicken

The recipe for 2 pesto baked ziti is below with photos. I used penne pasta on this one, but I still call it ziti because that's the style of dish that it is. Call it habit. I'll do the review of the fried chicken tomorrow. I always need more material for blogging so I like to stretch these things out as long as I can, for my three readers that is. Ron, thanks for reading this stupid thing. Good to see you and Diane.

Kit, thanks for the parsley pesto.

I'm going to fast again tomorrow, and I'll do a simple blog later in the week or early next week on my agave concoction that I use to get me through the day.

That's it.

Peace,

Make Food/Not War


What I Ate Today;

Breakfast; 2 scrambled eggs w/s & p, parsley evoo, 2 pieces brown bread w/butter

Lunch; Skipped

Dinner; 2 pesto pasta, salad, Vick's wicked fried chicken, steamed baby carrots and kale salad w/yellow onion, radish, red bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, olives of Provence, evoo, fresh lemon,
s & p.

Exercise; 5 miles walking


2 Pesto Baked Ziti

Ingredients;
6 cups pesto, (3 C parsley, 3 C basil)
1 1/4 pd. choice of pasta ziti pasta
1 lb. good chicken sausage, uncooked
2 cups walnuts
1/8 pd. feta cheese
salt for cooking
1/4 pd. gouda cheese
1/2 mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup julianne mint
1/2 cup fresh bail julianne
4 oz fresh chevre
1/4 pd. asiago

Instructions;
1) Make pesto, & cook sausage till middle done, and let sit for 15 minutes to cool, then rinse it to get off the excess fat and cut in half and then on the bias 1/4".
2) Grate and cut the cheese and crush the walnuts. You can toast the walnuts if you prefer.
3) Cook the ziti in boiling salted water till it 3/4 of the way done i.e., very al dente and drain.
4) Add the the two pesto sauces in an extra large mixing bowl and fold in the pasta till it's all coated evenly. Then throw in all the other ingredients in and I put gouda cheese on the top and sprinkled some walnuts on top also to finish.
5) Let cool to room temperature, put into a deep baking dish like in the photo, cover and let sit in the fridge overnight.
6) Take the casserole out of the fridge one and a half hours before you bake it. Preheat the oven and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degree on the center rack covered.
7) Serve hot out of the oven.

This dish needs nice crisp white wine. My recommendation is a Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, or a Pinot grigio. A nice India pale ale wouldn't go bad either.

Also: If you search my blogs there's a recipe for pesto in there somewhere. just substitute parsley for the basil.

Keep you corks popped and your pipes packed.