Pesto Pasta - Spend With Pennies

Seasoned chunks of hen breast are simmered in a creamy basil pesto sauce with tender spaghetti. It’s a full meal that’s simple to make any day of the week!

creamy pesto pasta in a white serving bowl garnished with basil

Taste: Creamy, tacky pesto sauce with tender bites of hen and pasta.
Ability Degree: This recipe comes collectively quick utilizing ready-made pesto and primary pantry elements.
Funds Tip: Add additional pasta to stretch the meal additional.
Swaps: Make it a meatless meal and swap out the hen for combined veggies. Swap for rotisserie hen, shrimp, or roasted veggies for a full meal.

Elements Ideas for Pesto Pasta

Creamy Pesto Sauce: Jarred pesto makes this dish a cinch. But when your backyard is brimming with basil, make a homemade model and have tons left over.
Pasta: Spaghetti is a superb selection for creamy pesto pasta. It cooks rapidly and holds simply the correct amount of sauce in each chew. It retains the dish gentle and easy, and chances are high you’ve already obtained some within the pantry! When you’re out of spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, and even penne work simply as nicely.
Rooster: Use recent boneless, skinless hen breasts, cutlets, or, if time is brief, toss in a bag of frozen hen meatballs in Step 7 and warmth by.
Variations: Be at liberty so as to add diced zucchini, sliced mushrooms, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, or chopped spinach or kale.

creamy pesto pasta in a cooking dish with a wooden fork

For the perfect outcomes, prepare dinner the pasta to al dente since it is going to proceed to prepare dinner when added to the sauce. You’ll want to reserve just a little pasta sauce in case you want to thicken the sauce in Step 7.
Ensure that the hen items are reduce into bite-sized items so that they prepare dinner evenly and just a little little bit of all the pieces will get onto each forkful.
Take away the skillet from the warmth in Step 6 to stir within the parmesan cheese and pesto to stop the dairy from scalding.

Leftovers

Maintain leftover hen pesto pasta in a coated container within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Take pleasure in it chilled for a straightforward workday lunch or reheat within the microwave with just a little milk added to loosen the sauce.

It’s not beneficial to freeze this recipe as a result of excessive quantity of dairy, which is able to turn out to be grainy as soon as thawed.

Serve Pesto Pasta With…

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Creamy Pesto Pasta

Creamy pesto pasta combines tender spaghetti and juicy hen in a deliciously wealthy creamy pesto sauce for the proper household meal.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook dinner Time 20 minutes

Whole Time 40 minutes

Cook dinner ModeStop your display screen from going darkish

In a big pot, prepare dinner spaghetti in response to package deal instructions. Drain and reserve 1 cup pasta water.
In a frying pan, warmth olive oil over medium warmth. Season hen with dried basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Add hen to the pan and prepare dinner till no pink stays, about 5-6 minutes. Take away from pan and put aside.
In the identical pan, add the butter and flour. Stir till easy and prepare dinner 2-3 minutes.
Add half and half, heavy cream, and hen broth. Convey to a simmer over medium warmth and permit to simmer for 2-3 minutes or till barely thickened.
Take away from warmth, and stir in parmesan cheese and pesto.
Add cooked pasta to the pesto sauce and toss. Add extra pasta water as wanted to succeed in desired consistency. Return the hen to the pan.
Garnish with basil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese if desired.

Vitamin info doesn’t embody garnish.
Maintain leftovers in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days.

Vitamin info offered is an estimate and can range primarily based on cooking strategies and types of elements used.

Course Rooster, Dinner, Pasta

Delicacies American

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