Serves: a butt-load (about 4-6)
Ingredients
- 3 cloves of garlic (whiz these in the food processor first)
- A nice big handful of fresh basil leaves (I used about 1/2 pkg from TJ’s)
- 2-3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- 1/3-1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- few splashes of white balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
- 2-3 tbsp of olive oil
- 4-6 lb. young chicken (preferably no-salt/broth added) – you could also use some bone-in chicken breasts which I want to try next time
- 2 onions, chopped
- about a pound of small yellow taters, chopped
Directions
For the Pesto:
Pulse the garlic in the food processor, add the next 5 ingredients (through olive oil), and pulse until a nice paste forms. Save half to serve alongside & for sammies later. Use the other half to pat over the chicken and underneath the skin.
Place the chopped onion and taters in the bottom of the crock pot, place chicken on top (up to this step can be done the night before, just place the crock in the fridge).
I really like these potatoes from TJ’s because they cook super tender and not mealy.
Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Be careful when taking the chicken out because it falls apart! (Note: There will be a lot of juice and fat at the bottom, so that’s why I’d like to try just bone-in, skinless breasts next time?) Drain and scoop out the veggies onto a sheet pan and roast in a 400 degree oven until golden, about 20 minutes.
Enjoy!
Reserve skimmed broth for another use (I think I’m going to make soup).
What’s great about this recipe is that you can multi-task in a good way by making pesto panini sandwiches for lunch the next day with the leftover pesto. I also schmeared a light laughing cow on one side with a few slices of mozzarella. You could stuff all kinds of things in there too like roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, etc.
Gotta love that crispy, gooey pesto cheese!!
