Pesto Filled Scones

On a lazy Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, I was in the mood for some baking experimentation - as well as a savory snack to munch on. A fairly quick and easy option was scones, and it had been some time since we tried out any new scone flavors - so I decided to put a new twist on our original savory scone recipe!

These scones might look like any other savory scone at first glance, but there is a surprise center that oozes with basil pesto deliciousness once you bite into it! If you’d like to make it more indulgent, add a small ball of Mozzarella cheese along with the pesto filling. I topped them off with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, and these tasty tidbits definitely hit the spot!

Base ingredients: (makes ~20 small scones)

Click here for our base ingredients

Add-ins

~½ cup pesto sauce (I used our spinach walnut variety)
~3 TBSP freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Follow the same steps as the spinach feta scones (link) to prepare the dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about ½ inch thick, then cut into approximately 2 inch squares.

Place about 1-2 tsp of pesto on each piece of dough, slightly off-center. Fold the dough over and pinch shut, sealing with some water if necessary.

Place on a baking sheet, leaving about one inch of space between the scones. Brush the tops with buttermilk, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 12-15 minutes until the tops turn golden brown. Let the scones cool before storing in an airtight container. They can be enjoyed at room temperature, or slightly warmed up.

These scones make a great anytime snack!

~Karla

    
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Crispy Parmesan Cups

A few years ago when I finished graduate school, my foodie friends Meghana and Vikram gifted me a super fancy cookbook titled “The French Laundry Cookbook”. The author, Thomas Keller, is the chef/proprietor of the renowned French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, among other fine dining restaurants. Starting his kitchen journey as a dishwasher, he climbed his way up to be a chef and restaurateur, currently holding 7 Michelin stars between 3 restaurants, and is also a James Beard award winner. Both the food and the photography in this book are brilliant. Every dish is elegant and is beautifully plated. Vikram and Meghana themselves are artists with food, and this wonderful gift from them is simply full of food art.

One of the recipes that caught my eye was a goat cheese mousse served in parmesan crisps. The combination of delicate crispy parmesan and the goat cheese seemed like a great idea, but I thought I’d try to make it just a little bit healthier by adding some greens. I still wanted to have the goat cheese component without making the mousse, so I made a goat cheese salad dressing.

The Parmesan crisps in the original recipe are prepared by melting the Parmesan cheese in the oven, but I didn’t want to heat up the oven just for that, so I decided to try this on the stove top. It was really quick and easy, with extremely satisfying results.  

Ingredients:

Parmesan cups (for each cup)

~¼ cup (loosely packed) finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese.

Freshly grated from a block of Parmesan is best for this because it is not as dry and you can grate it finely, however pre-shredded fresh Parmesan would work. Don’t use the dry granulated “grated Parmesan” sold in the plastic canisters.

Salad

Mixed greens

Cherry tomatoes

Sliced cucumbers

Sliced radishes

Any other ingredients of your choice!

Goat cheese salad dressing

1 Tbsp soft goat cheese

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

Heat a nonstick pan over low-medium heat. Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly in a 6” circle. Don’t leave any big gaps. Let the cheese melt and get bubbly. Take the pan off heat after ~2 minutes (once the bubbling reduces and cheese starts to change color). Using a thin spatula, gently start peeling the Parmesan crisp from one side. Once you lift it a little, you can peel the rest of it carefully with your hands. Don’t worry if it breaks - you can use the broken pieces of the Parmesan crisp to top any salads unless you scarf them down while making the next one like I did.

Quickly place the hot Parmesan “sheet” on an inverted bowl and press on the edges gently but firmly to form the “cup”. Hold for a minute until hardened then take it off the bowl. Now step back and admire your awesome lacy edible creation!

Combine all the salad ingredients. Make the dressing by mixing the goat cheese, honey and lemon juice. Adjust the amounts to taste. Theres a lot of room to get creative with the salad ingredients as well as the dressing!

Carefully add the salad to the Parmesan cups and drizzle the goat cheese dressing on top.

This would make a perfect dinner party first course since it is not time intensive. The parmesan cups are fairly quick to make - the only time consuming step is grating the cheese. The cups can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container. The salad and the dressing can also be made ahead of time and stored separately in the refrigerator. Just put together all the components right before the meal and get ready to impress your guests.

~Gayatri

Parmesan-crusted Chicken

Crispy, cheesy, flavorful chicken...what could be more delicious? Okay, maybe a lot of things. But for meat-eaters, sometimes nothing beats some crispy fried chicken. A lot of my (and my husband’s) favorite dishes at places like Noodles or Carrabba’s or Spageddies have some sort of breaded chicken, so I thought it was high time I made my own (slightly healthier) version. It took a few attempts, but I eventually got just the right breading and seasoning mix for some delicious homemade Parmesan-crusted chicken.

Ingredients:

~3 chicken breasts, filleted or thinly sliced for 6-8 pieces

~2-3 large eggs, beaten (I’ll typically use EggBeaters)

cooking oil of choice (I use canola)

For the breading:

~1-1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese (I use the typical Kraft-in-a-container stuff, but fresh grated would work as well)

~½-1 cup bread crumbs of choice (plain, panko, seasoned...I’m particularly fond of pulverizing old cereal such as Kix or plain Cheerios - works just as well and the cereal doesn’t go to waste!)

blend of spices to taste (suggested quantities listed):

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp sage

1 tsp marjoram

1-2 TBSP garlic powder (you can never have too much garlic!)

NOTE: If using seasoned breadcrumbs, reduce seasoning quantities as desired. Fresh spices would also work, but make sure they are well-dried (especially garlic) so the mixture doesn’t become clumpy.

 

 

Pour cheese, bread crumbs, and spices in a large bowl and mix well. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs.

 

Heat about 1 TBSP of oil in a large pan over medium heat. Dredge chicken slices in the egg, then coat both sides with the breading mixture. Fry covered in the pan (in a single layer) for about 3-5 minutes each side, depending on thickness, until cooked through and crispy on the outside. Repeat until all slices are fried, adding more oil when necessary.

 

If you have extra egg and breadcrumbs leftover, mix them together and fry it up to make a delicious appetizer patty!

 

Instead of frying, I have also baked the chicken: dredge each piece in egg, then coat with breadcrumb mixture. Arrange all pieces in a lined baking dish and bake at 400F for about 20-30 minutes (until cooked through, depends on thickness of the chicken), or broil on high for about 6-7 minutes each side.

 

This lightly-breaded, lower-cholesterol (if you use EggBeaters) Parmesan-crusted chicken can be served as part of a variety of dishes (recipes to come!):

 

 

 

 

NOTE: The Parmesan-crusted chicken in the broccoli-pesto cavatappi dish is baked instead of fried.

~Karla