This recipe is for my 2 year old son Francesco's favorite lunch time treat. It is delicious on wheat bread with a slice of red onion and tomato.

Francesco's Favorite Pesto Chicken Salad

1 cup mayonaise (not miracle whip)
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 small onion, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 to 3 cups leftover cooked chicken, diced (also delicious with turkey)

Add all ingredients to blender or food processor except chicken and parmesan cheese. Blend unti smooth and well combined. Pour over chicken in a medium size bowl and then add parmesan cheese. Toss to coat.

My family loves this so much that I usually have to double it. We eat it with Italian wedding soup. I usually roast a chicken a week and we eat chicken, mashed potatoes and stuffing with gravy one day, then the next I make the chicken salad and wedding soup. It is very economical for my family and my kids love it.

Wedding Soup

For broth:
1 chicken carcass or 2 lbs of bones from any part of the chicken
3 carrots, cut in half
3 stalks celery, cut in 3 pieces
2 yellow onions with the skins on, cut in half (this will help to give the broth a good color)
3 Tbsp salt
5 black peppercorns
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning
1 small bunch of parsley
12 cups of water

Meatballs:
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 egg
3 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Additional ingredients:
1 head escarole, chopped
1 cup Acini de Peppi (tiny soup pasta)
grated parmesan cheese

Add all broth ingredients to a large stock pot and simmer for 5-6 hours. When finished strain through a cheesecloth lined strainer and discard the bones and vegetables. Return broth to pot.

Mix all meatball ingredients together in a bowl. Roll into tiny meatballs. Bake in 350 oven for 15 minutes or fry on stove top until done.

Add cooked meatballs to broth. Add one bunch of escarole, chopped.

Next, boil 1 cup of Acini de Peppi according to the package directions in a seperate pot.

I add a couple of spoonfuls of the cooked pasta to every individual bowl and pour the soup over it. (I find that the noodles expand too much in the left over soup and suck up all of the broth if I cook them in the soup itself.)

Add grated cheese to the soup in the bowls and enjoy.

Complete ingredient list:
1 chicken carcass
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
3 onions
salt
peppercorns
parsley
water
poultry seasoning
ground beef
parmesan cheese
garlic
egg
bread crumbs
Acini de Pepi (pastina)
1 bunch of easarole