Chicken with Broccoli & Walnut Pesto

A riff on Italian pesto where walnuts stand in for pine nuts and anchovies add umami depth you don’t usually find in green pesto. Pre-cooked chicken (the recipe assumes leftover fricassee, but any roasted or braised chicken works) bakes in a casserole with broccoli florets, walnuts, and broth until warmed through.

Meanwhile, a blender pesto comes together: walnuts, garlic, anchovies, parmesan, olive oil, and fresh basil blended to a coarse paste. The fricassee sauce gets reduced on the stovetop, then whisked into the pesto for a creamy green pan sauce that drapes over the chicken and broccoli.

The anchovies are the secret ingredient. They don’t make the dish taste fishy; they add the salty backbone that keeps this from tasting like straight basil. Serve over buttered egg noodles or polenta to catch the pesto sauce.

Chef Tips

• Toast the walnuts in a dry pan for a few minutes before blending. Raw walnuts are bland; toasted walnuts are the whole point of using them instead of pine nuts.
• Blanch the broccoli florets briefly before baking if you want them bright green. Long baking turns them olive-drab.
• Reduce the fricassee sauce until it’s thick enough to coat a spoon, exactly as the recipe says. Watery sauce dilutes the pesto and the whole dish suffers.
• Don’t heat the pesto directly on the stove. Fold it into the hot sauce off the heat to preserve the fresh-basil color and flavor.

Variations

• Use traditional pine nuts if walnuts aren’t in the pantry, or try hazelnuts for a different nutty profile.
• Swap broccoli for broccolini, broccoli rabe, or cauliflower.
• Add a handful of sun-dried tomatoes to the casserole for color and sweetness.