Pesto Sauce and Rotisserie Chicken Focaccia Sandwich (Freeze the Pesto Sauce for Future Recipes)

It's been so many years and I just found out recently that pesto sauce could be stored in the freezer. That's probably one of my biggest breakthroughs over the past few months. Eagerly to give it a try, I've decided to use freshly made pesto as a sandwich spread and freeze the rest for a quick fix pasta dinner. 

Pesto sauce and rotisserie chicken focaccia sandwich -

Ingredients (1 to 2 portions)?

Pesto sauce:

• 2 cups basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Others:

• 1 big slice focaccia bread (or 2 smaller slices)
• 1 chicken breast (bone in, skin on)
• 2 lemon slices
• 3 tablespoons chopped sun dried tomatoes
• Some salt
• Some ground black pepper or peppercorn mix
• Some olive oil
• Some salad (as a side dish, optional)

How?

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking dish with foil.

Transfer the chicken breast to the baking dish, skin side up. Sprinkle some salt, pepper, and top with lemon slices. Drizzle some olive oil then bake uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes -

Once ready, remove from heat and wait till the chicken cools off. Remove the skin (I actually ate it right away), tear or shred the meat either by hand or a fork. I prefer to use my hands and tear the meat into strips. Extra chicken meat can be stored in the fridge or the freezer for later use.

Toast the focaccia in the oven. Cut in half if needed before putting on the spreads. 

Peel the garlic cloves and give them a few chops. Add in all the ingredients under "pesto sauce" except for the extra virgin olive oil to the food processor -

Drizzle some oil at a time and pulse till desired consistency. Give it a quick taste and see if more salt is needed.

Chop the sun dried tomatoes. Take one focaccia and spread some pesto sauce on the inner side and spread some sun dried tomatoes on the other -

Arrange some rotisserie chicken on one of the focaccia bread then fold both focaccia together to form a sandwich, slice in half if needed.

Serve with salad or chips.

Best thing about this recipe, almost all the components can be make-ahead and even stored in the freezer for later use. These ingredients come in handy especially when prepping quick-fix meal in a hurry. 


Other sandwich recipes:

• Relaxing morning: smoked salmon and soft scrambled eggs croissant sandwich
• Grilled rye bread sandwich with peanut butter, fig preserves, and Gouda
• Weekend brunch? Try rotisserie chicken with kiwi salsa ciabatta sandwich
• Open faced sandwich with mayonnaise shrimp and avocado
• Grilled cheese with homemade salsa
• Japanese style corn and ham sandwich
• Japanese egg salad sandwich topped with smoked salmon (tamago sando)
• Smoked ham sandwich with aioli and Parmigiano Reggiano
• Rotisserie chicken, strawberry, and ricotta croissant sandwich

Onigiri Recipe: Shio Kombu and Tuna Mayo Rice Balls

Find out more about shio kombu from my earlier post: Japanese style steamed rice with shio kombu. 

Shio kombu and tuna mayo rice balls -

Ingredients (for two onigiri)?

• 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 medium dried seaweed sheet (or two smaller rectangular version)
• 2 - 3 tablespoons canned tuna
• 2 tablespoons shio kombu
• 1 tablespoon Japanese mayo
• Some salted water

How?

Add the shio kombu to the leftover brown rice and gently heat them up. Fold the rice a few times so the shio kombu can fully mixed together with the grains.

Drain out any excess oil or water from the canned tuna. Transfer about 2 to 3 tablespoons of tuna to a bowl and mix with 1 tablespoon of Japanese mayo.

Take one sheet of dried seaweed (nori) and cut with a sharp knife to two smaller rectangular sheets. You can also find small rectangular shaped dried nori as snacks at Asian grocery store, which work just as well but can be on the smaller side for the rice balls.

Sprinkle some salt to drinkable water and stir till dissolved.

Wet both palms with salted water before making the rice balls. It helps in preventing the grains from sticking on hands. Take one scoop of rice and gently flatten the grams on one palm. Add about one tablespoon of the tuna mayo mixture to the center. Top the tuna mayo with more rice and start forming all these ingredients into a rice ball. 

It takes a few practice to perfect the triangular shaped onigiri, but a simple round one works just as well as long as the filling does not pop out in between the grains. 

Wrap the rice balls with nori sheets right before serving.

Tuna can be substituted with grilled salmon or canned flaky salmon sold in Japanese grocery store.

Other recipe using shio kombu:

• Rice cooker recipe - Japanese style steamed rice with shio kombu (塩昆布の炊き込みご飯)