Basil Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Tomato and Mozzarella

I love chicken salad. Always have, always will. What’s not to love? It’s condiment-galore. The chicken is just the side-show, right? And you can get creative and add everything you love: a splash of mustard, a dollop of relish, seasonings, herbs – you throw in all of these delicious add-ins and you call it chicken salad. And as a confessed basil fanatic, I have been helplessly wanting to make chicken salad with pesto. Yes, next thing I know I’ll be making red wine-chicken salad. It’s a slippery slope folks, but I’ll be careful. For now, I’ll stick to red wine in my glass and pesto in my chicken salad. And of course, what complements basil perfectly? You’ve got it: tomato and mozzarella. Perfect for our sandwiches. Okay, okay, only the sous chef had the sandwich. I made more of a tomato, mozzarella and pesto chicken salad stack, if you will. But friends, it was just as good. I mean you really can’t go wrong with this chicken salad. Next time my sous chef and I venture off to a vineyard, orchard or hike somewhere? I can guarantee this will be packed for our journey. It’s perfect for lunch, a picnic, delicious snack – we even had it for dinner. Hell, I’d eat it for breakfast (but then again, I’d eat anything but breakfast for breakfast so that may not be saying much). But just trust me, this is really, really yummy.

Basil Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Tomato and Mozzarella:

(Servings: ~4-5)

• 3 chicken breasts, cleaned
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1/4 slivered almonds
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 1 beefsteak tomato
• 4 ciabatta rolls
• salt and pepper

Basil Pesto:

• 2 cups packed basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cut walnuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper

To begin, preheat your broiler in your oven. Then, cook your chicken breasts. The sous chef and I sliced ours in half lengthwise and marinated them in Italian dressing (because that’s just my favorite way of doing plain chicken). We threw them on the grill for about 10-15 minutes at 375 degrees.

But, feel free to cook your chicken your preferred way. Once cool, shred the chicken using a fork.

Set aside.

Slice your ciabatta rolls in half and place them on a baking sheet with the open side facing up. Place in the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the rolls begin to brown. Remove and let cool.

Next, we are going to make the pesto. In a food processor, combine the basil, pine nuts, walnuts, teaspoon of both salt and pepper and garlic.

Once you begin to puree the ingredients, slowly drizzle the 1/2 cup of olive oil into the food processor through the opening in the top to emulsify the pesto.

Once smooth, add the parmesan cheese and pulse again until just combined.

So easy. We’ll come back to this momentarily. Next, let’s slice our tomato and mozzarella and season with salt and pepper.

And dice the red onion –

Okay, in a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise with the basil pesto. Now, cooking is really more of an art than a science. And as the cook, be sure to taste it so that it’s pesto-y enough and mayonnaise-y enough. Some people like a more “wet” chicken salad while others prefer a “drier” chicken salad. So add some, mix, and of course, taste. Add more of either mayo or pesto as desired. We probably used about a 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and a 1/2 cup of pesto. I think.. it’s hard to say exactly because I did exactly that – add, taste and add.

Once mixed, add your onion, slivered almonds and season with salt and pepper.

Mix well.

Then, on your cooled bread, layer the tomato and mozzarella.

Add your basil pesto chicken salad.

Slice in half, if desired, for the ease of eating.

And enjoy!

Now earlier, I mentioned my tomato stack – in case you don’t eat bread for whatever reason, feel free to make a stack – I did, and it was so, so good.

Yes, yes, yes. There is just one missing ingredient: the wine. Personally, I think a gorgeous glass of white wine is perfect for this dish. Our choice? The 2010 Domaine Triennes Saint Fleur Viognier. This white is crisp and aromatic with notes of honey-suckle and lemon – a delicious wine to complement these gorgeous sandwiches without overpowering our delicate dish.

Cheers!