Chicken Pesto Pasta
photo by Baking Barb
- Ready In:
- 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 11
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 3 cups fresh Baby Spinach, not frozen
- 2⁄3 cup toasted pine nuts, divided
- 1 garlic clove, small
- 1⁄2 cup olive oil
- 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 16 ounces sliced mushrooms, I use half white and half brown
- 2 cups cooked chicken, sliced
- 1 lb uncooked pasta, short noodles
directions
- In the bowl of a food processor combine, basil, spinach, 1/3 cup pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil.
- Pulse a few times to combine all ingredients.
- Scrape down the sides and then let run for a minute or two until you get a nice thick sauce.
- Remove to a large bowl and gently fold in parmesan, adding salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring a large bowl of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water for the pesto.
- While pasta is cooking, sauté mushrooms in 1 teaspoons oil and a small amount of salt.
- When they have rendered their water but it hasn't evaporated yet, add the chicken to warm it up (if made ahead).
- Add the reserved pasta water to the pesto sauce and stir gently.
- Toss the pesto, pasta, chicken, mushrooms, and remaining pine nuts until pasta is fully coated with sauce.
- This recipe is easily cut in half but if you want to make the full batch of pesto simply put half in a freezer safe container before adding the cheese and top with a very thin layer of olive oil and freeze for a later use.
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