My sister Linda came up with this recipe about 15 years ago, and my family absolutely loves it. The only problem is that when Linda was telling me how to make it, she just named the ingredients and didn’t give me any quantities at all. So that’s how I’ve been making it for the last 15 years. I would just toss a bunch of the ingredients into the blender, turn it on, and believe it or not, it came out great every single time. But when I planned on sharing this recipe on the blog, I knew I had to have precise measurements, so I wrote them down as I photographed each step.

As long as I’m blogging about my sister’s recipe, I wanted to share some photos of a project that she helped me with a few years ago. Shortly after we bought our current house, my husband and I decided to use one of the extra rooms in the basement to build a model railroad set, complete with buildings, roads, scenery, etc. Linda was excited about our project and volunteered to help me build it. She even took a week off of work and flew up here to Utah. We worked on it from morning until night the whole time she was here. At the end of the week, we were surprised at how well it turned out considering the fact that neither one of us had ever done anything like this before. Here is one of the close-up shots of the train table.

Cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and saute in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan until cooked through. Set aside. Meanwhile, wash the herbs and remove as many of the stems as possible. Mince the garlic. Grate the Parmesan cheese. Begin cooking the linguine according to package directions.

In a blender or food processor, combine the following ingredients in batches and process until smooth, making sure that some of the liquid is included in each batch: basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, olive oil, cream, and milk. As you finish processing each batch, add it to the chicken in the saucepan.

Stir in the salt and pepper. Heat through and serve over linguine. If desired, you can top individual servings with more pine nuts and grated Parmesan cheese.

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Pasta with Chicken and Pesto

Recipe by: Linda Ryberg/Adapted by Winner Dinners
Serves 4-6

1 pound chicken breasts or chicken tenders
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces fresh basil, washed and stems removed
1/2 cup fresh oregano, washed and stems removed
3/4 cup fresh parsley, washed and stems removed
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 ounces fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pint cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
hot cooked linguine
additional Parmesan cheese and pine nuts for garnish (optional)

Cut up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and saute in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan until cooked through. Set aside. Meanwhile, wash the herbs and remove as many of the stems as possible. Mince the garlic. Grate the Parmesan cheese. Begin cooking the linguine according to package directions. In a blender or food processor, combine the following ingredients in batches and process until smooth, making sure that some of the liquid is included in each batch: basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, olive oil, cream, and milk. As you finish processing each batch, add it to the chicken in the saucepan. Stir in the salt and pepper. Heat through and serve over linguine. If desired, you can top individual servings with more pine nuts and grated Parmesan cheese.