Chicken Pesto Pasta

This post is so I remember to make this again when basil is plentiful in the garden.

Today my husband pruned our garden and I found myself with handfuls of fresh basil. It was time to make pesto. Pesto is easy to make in a food processor. I made my pesto based on this on this recipe, using the optional Parmesan cheese.

 https://www.loveandlemons.com/pesto-recipe/

The one substitution I made was switching out walnuts for the pine nuts. A chef once told me this is a common substitution for pesto recipes.

I cooked up 4 servings of large shelled pasta in salted boiling water with a few drops of olive oil in the water. This pasta took 14-16 minutes to cook.

While the pasta was cooking, I cut two chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and seasoned them in kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. I slathered about 1/4 of the pesto sauce over the chicken pieces. Then I sautéed them in olive oil.

When the pasta was done, I drained it and put it in a large bowl. I put the sautéed chicken into the bowl with the pasta and added the rest of the pesto to the mix and stirred it up until coated evenly. A sprinkle of Parmesan and this was then ready to serve.

Here are the ingredients I used for the pesto.

Ingredients

Basic Basil Pesto:

• ½ cup walnuts 
• The juice of one small lemon
• 1 small garlic clove
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 cups basil leaves
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for a smoother pesto
• ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions I used:

Chop everything up in the Cuisinart with the chopping blade getting a head start with the walnuts and then adding the other ingredients until all are mixed well into a soft paste. Pulse more and add olive oil if needed to get the consistency desired.