Creamy Pesto Chicken and Linguine

Submitted by Julesong

"Easy to make, this chicken is wonderfully tasty and rich. Not for those watching your fat intake, but hey... splurging every now and then isn't a bad idea. ;)"

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 lb spinach linguine or 1 lb regular linguine
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup butter, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 whole shallot, minced
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted in warm water (measurement before reconstituting)
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1⁄4 teaspoon white pepper, to taste
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1⁄2 cup pesto sauce
• 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 cup romano cheese or 1/4-1/2 cup extra parmesan cheese, grated,for garnish
• fresh ground black pepper, for garnish

directions

1. Cook linguini according to package directions.
2. Drain and set aside.
3. In a large skillet, melt 2 teaspoons of the butter together with the olive oil over medium heat.
4. Brown the chicken breasts on both sides until nicely golden and juices run clear, about 6 to 7 minutes per side.
5. Remove from pan and cut into 1/2-inch cubes; set aside.
6. Pour out drippings from pan, but do not wipe it out.
7. In the pan you cooked the chicken in, melt remaining butter over medium heat.
8. Toss in the minced garlic, shallot, mushrooms, and reconstituted sundried tomatoes and sauté for 5 minutes, then stir in half and half and season with pepper.
9. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently.
10. Stir the Parmesan into the creamy mixture, stirring until well mixed.
11. Stir in the pesto, and cook for about 5 minutes, until thickened.
12. Stir in the chicken cubes and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
13. Re-heat the linguini (either in boiling water or microwave) and serve chicken and sauce over the hot pasta.
14. Garnish with grated Romano and freshly ground black pepper.
15. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Reviews

[MEAN CHEF]

Made this last night. Although I was making it for two, I did make the full recipe and we ate it all with half the amount of pasta. It was great. Wonderful complex flavors and very creamy. Totally decadent. Made the recipe as printed and discovered that the sauce got a bit too thick when simmering the half and half for 6-8 minutes. It probably depends on how hard you simmer, but to me 4-5 minutes would have been enough. I also did not find a need to simmer more than a minute each after the additions of cheese and pesto. I cooked everything in advance up to the point of adding the cream and then started cooking the pasta so that I did not need to reheat it. If you make this do not leave out the sun dried tomatoes as they are a key flavor ingredient. It's a keeper.

 

[Shabby Sign Shoppe]

Incredible! Made this last night for supper and it was delicious! Husband, usually the pickiest of all eaters, scarfed this down, even had 2 servings! My 4 y.o. and his friend enjoyed it as well. Restaurant quality taste! I did cut the half and half by 1 c. and replaced the other half w/ skim milk. Turned out fine. Next time I'll try it w/ fat free half and half. Thanks for a great recipe!

 

[AngelicFantasia]

What a delicious dish. I made the recipe as written and it came together quickly and beautifully. The flavors are wonderful and it is elegant enough to serve at a dinner party. DS said he wanted it once a week and DH raved. As Mean Chef said, it is a keeper.

 

[Daydream]

Julesong, another delicious recipe submitted by you. It was made as directed and loved by all who ate it. Thank you.

 

[Teresa Peers]

I don't tend to rate unless it was god-awful or brilliant, and this was sooooo good. Added a small amount more of the half and half, but other than that, didn't change a thing.