Minari Pesto Chicken Gemelli

Quick answer

Total time: 40 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 10

About this dish

Minari pesto chicken gemelli is built on a sauce made by grinding Korean water parsley and walnuts together into a pesto that reads as herbaceous and faintly bitter rather than the sweet, basil-forward character of the Italian original.

Minari has a clean, lightly peppery green aroma with a slight cooling quality that carries through to the finished sauce. Walnuts replace pine nuts, adding a denser, earthier nuttiness along with a coarser texture in the paste. Chicken thighs are seared in a hot pan until the skin side develops a proper golden crust through the Maillard reaction, which adds savory depth the breast cut lacks. Parmesan cheese and olive oil give the pesto its creamy, cohesive body. Lemon juice is added last to cut through the oil and brighten the entire dish without making it feel acidic. Gemelli is a natural choice because its tightly twisted double-helix shape traps the thick sauce inside each coil, ensuring good coverage in every bite. If minari is unavailable, ssukgat can substitute, but the flavor profile shifts toward a more bitter, chrysanthemum-like note.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

gemelli pasta360 gg

boneless chicken thigh320 gg

minari (water dropwort)100 gg

walnuts45 gg

garlic3 cloveclove

parmesan cheese40 gg

olive oil5 tbsptbsp

lemon juice1½ tbsptbsp

salt1 tsptsp

black pepper½ tsptsp

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Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Prep

Remove the thick stems from 100g minari (water parsley).

Wash in cold water and squeeze out all excess moisture. Wet leaves will dilute the pesto.
2

Step

Blend the minari, 45g walnuts, 3 garlic cloves, 40g Parmesan, 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice, and 4 tablespoons olive oil until smooth.
3

Control

Cut 320g chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces (3-4cm).

Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 0.5 teaspoon pepper, then cook in a pan over medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes until golden.
4

Finish

Cook 360g gemelli in salted boiling water for 1 minute less than the package time.

Reserve 120ml pasta water before draining.
5

Control

Add the cooked chicken, gemelli, and pesto to the pan.

Add pasta water gradually over low heat and toss for 2 minutes until evenly coated.
6

Finish

Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top to brighten the flavors, then plate and serve immediately.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Crisp water parsley and walnuts form a bitter-herb pesto for gemelli and seared chicken.
Finish cue: Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 0.5 teaspoon pepper, then cook in a pan over medium-high heat for 6-7 minutes until golden.
Substitution: Walnuts replace pine nuts, adding a denser, earthier nuttiness along with a coarser texture in the paste.