Pesto Chicken Pasta

The pasta version of a Caprese Salad

We all love caprese salads right? But everyone knows that pasta is always better than salad. With fresh Mozzarella pearls, homemade pesto, and bright red cherry tomatoes, this is one dish to write home about. This isn't one of those recipes where; like Ms. Ina Garten would say, "store-bought" is fine. We're making our pesto fresh for many reasons. I'm all for using some store bought items when needed, but home-made pesto is soooooo much better than store bought! Plus, pesto is SO easy to make. Once you make your own, you'll never buy it in a store again.

Make this dish and serve it up with a fresh salad, and/or some warm Italian bread and burrata!

FYI- This recipe calls for a food processor

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Pesto

• 2oz of fresh basil

• 2oz of fresh Italian Parsley (half a bushel)

• 1oz of pine nuts

• 5 cloves of garlic

• 4tbsp of Olive Oil

• 3tbsp of grated parmesan

• 1tbsp of Italian seasoning

• 1tsp of red pepper flake

• 1tsp of salt

• 1tsp of pepper

For the Chicken

• 1lb of chicken breast

• 1tsp of garlic powder

• 2tsp of Italian seasoning

• Salt and Pepper to taste

• 1tbsp of Olive OIl

For the Pasta

• 3L of water for boiling

• 16oz of penne pasta (My personal favorite is Alessi Organic Pasta)

• 1/8 cup of salt

• 1tsp of olive oil

• 1/4 cup of butter

• 1/2 cup of heavy cream

• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan

• 10oz of cherry/grape tomatoes, halved

• 8oz of Mozzarella pearls

Directions

1. Heat up 1tbsp of Olive oil in a pan.

2. Dice your chicken breast into bite-size pieces.

3. Once your oil and pan are heated, toss your diced chicken into it and season with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.

4. Cook your chicken on med-high until golden brown.

5. While your chicken cooks, begin making your pesto.

6. Start by adding you basil, parsley, garlic and pine nuts to a food processor and blend.

7. Scrape the sides of the processor and blend again. Then add your oil, parmesan, Italian seasoning, red pepper flake, salt, and pepper.

8. Blend, scrape sides and repeat until smooth.

9. Begin to boil your pasta water. Once boiling, add your salt and olive oil and stir before adding pasta.

10. Cook pasta to al dente directions on the packaging.

11. With 1-2minutes remaining on your pasta cook time, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water.

12. Drain your pasta and remove from pot.

13. With the pasta pot still warm, add 1/4 cup of butter and let melt. (Turn your stove top to low if needed)

14. After butter melts, add the heavy cream and pesto and stir until incorporated.

15. Add your pasta water to thin sauce as needed. (I usually start with 1/4 cup of pasta water and add more as needed.)

16. Add parmesan and stir until melted and incorporated in sauce.

17. Once sauce is fully incorporated, add in pasta and stir until pasta is completely coated in sauce.

18. Add in your cooked chicken, halved tomatoes, and mozzarella pearls and stir.

19. Lastly, plate and enjoy!!!!

Tips and Tricks

Pasta:

My absolute favorite pasta brand has been the Alessi organic pasta. You can get it in most grocery stores and it is usually only about $0.50 cheaper than boxed pastas. I can't stress how much better this pasta actually tastes compared to others. It is only slightly more expensive but the enhanced taste is apparent. Definitely recommend trying it!

Secondly, add. Salt. To. Your. Pasta. Water!!!!!! Don't skimp out on it too. Your pasta water should be as salty as the ocean. Seriously. Any chef out there would tell you the same thing. Adding salt to the water is important because for this recipe we are using the pasta water in the sauce. We want the saltiness of the water paired with the starchiness of the pasta. Do it. Add the salt. Don't be scared!!!

Sauce:

This sauce is so so so good, however, there's a few tricks I use to keep it perfect. The parmesan in this sauce can have a tendency to congeal and mold together in clumps. To avoid this, my best advice is to add the cheese in small amounts one at a time. Stir and let it fully melt while still stirring, and then slowly add more. It also helps to thin the cheese by adding the pasta water in between adding the cheese.

I would also recommend adding your mozzarella pearls to your individual dish and not the whole pot of pasta. I do this only because if I have left overs and want to reheat the pasta, my pearls wont melt upon reheating!

Pesto:

I can't stress it enough, jarred/canned pesto is trash. 100/10 do not recommend. It may seem overwhelming and like a lot of steps to make your own, but it is truly so easy! You just stuff it all in one food processor and blend. That's it. It will taste so insanely good. If you use jarred pesto for the recipe, don't blame me when your pasta tastes like shit. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.