Cheesy Garlic Pesto Chicken Sliders

Memorial Day. I drove to the cemetery Monday morning, alone, before anyone was awake. I stood at Larry's grave — still fresh, the earth still mounded, the grass not yet grown over — and I said Dad, it is Memorial Day, and I miss you, and the chili has brown sugar. I did not cry. I think I am past the crying-at-the-grave stage. I am in the standing-at-the-grave-and-talking stage, which is either progress or insanity, and I have decided it is progress.

Then I drove to Kearney. To Darla's grave. I have not been since November, since the anniversary, and the guilt of that is a low hum under everything else. The headstone is weathered now, thirteen years of Nebraska weather smoothing the letters the way time smooths grief — not erasing it but rounding the edges, making it something you can hold without cutting yourself. I stood there and said Darla, your kids are good. Amber ran track. Justin is getting better. They are okay. We are okay. It is the most honest prayer I know.

We grilled for dinner. Burgers and brats, the Memorial Day standard, because some meals are not about the food but about the tradition, and the tradition says: we grill on Memorial Day, we eat in the yard, we remember the people who are not here by living the kind of life they would have wanted us to live. Dave grilled. The kids ran around. Gayle sat in a lawn chair and watched and said the brats are done when they split, which is not strictly true but which Larry used to say, and hearing it in Gayle's voice was like hearing an echo from a canyon — same words, different mouth, the meaning rippling across time.

We had the brats and burgers that night, just like we always do, but the next morning I was still thinking about the grill — about how Dave stood there flipping things without being asked, how the kids orbited the smoke without realizing it, how the whole yard smelled like something that meant we are still here. These Cheesy Garlic Pesto Chicken Sliders are what I made the following weekend, when I wanted that same feeling without the full production — something melty and warm and a little extra, the kind of thing Larry would have grabbed two of without asking.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 12 sliders

Ingredients

12 Hawaiian slider rolls, sliced in half horizontally
2 cups cooked rotisserie chicken, shredded
1/2 cup prepared basil pesto
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, sliced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or line with parchment paper.
Prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, combine shredded chicken and pesto. Stir until the chicken is evenly coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble the sliders. Place the bottom halves of the rolls in the prepared baking dish. Spread the chicken and pesto mixture evenly over the rolls. Layer the roasted red peppers over the chicken, then top with mozzarella and provolone cheese. Place the top halves of the rolls over the cheese.
Make the garlic butter topping. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, minced garlic, parsley, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes if using. Brush the mixture generously over the tops of the rolls.
Bake covered. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the rolls are warmed through.
Finish uncovered. Remove the foil and bake an additional 8–10 minutes, until the tops are golden and slightly crispy.
Serve. Let rest for 2–3 minutes, then slice into individual sliders and serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cheesy Garlic Pesto Chicken Sliders — The Grill Was Still Going