Buttermilk Soaked Prosciutto & Smoked Almond Pesto Roasted Chicken
By Merry Graham
Ingredients
1 (4-5 pound) whole chicken
6 tablespoons Prosciutto and Smoked Pesto
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Separate the skin from the chicken breast and gently spread 5-tablespoons of pesto between the skin and the chicken breast with your fingers. Place the chicken with the cavity up in a 1-gallon plastic bag. Pour buttermilk into the cavity and seal plastic bag. Refrigerate the chicken in the refrigerator for 4 hours. After the chicken has soaked in the buttermilk, drain buttermilk. Pat the outside of the chicken with a paper towel; sprinkle inside cavity with salt. Mix olive oil with 1-tablespoon pesto; brush over skin of chicken. Bake chicken at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, turn oven to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juice is no longer pink. Cover chicken with foil while it is baking if it begins to brown too much. Serves 4.
