Chicken Pasta In Creamy Pesto Sauce Recipes

Summer is the time of year where the gardens are full of pesto's essential ingredient like basil. I just love the smell of fresh basil where it has a wonderful pungent aroma and an incredible flavor that is a cross between licorice and cloves. I like using it to cook my tomato base dishes or simply make it into Pesto.

The traditional way of making pesto and still the best way is with mortar and pestle but I used blender to make this. Typically, pesto is made with fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper but you can experiment it with various herbs, nuts and cheeses to come up with your own special pesto.

Whenever I make a batch of pesto, I keep some in the refrigerator and freeze and I can use it whenever I need a quick pasta meal, topping for my grill chicken or fish or to flavor my soups. Here is one quick and simple dish using pesto. I will feature more dishes using pesto later.

Ingredients for fresh Pesto
3 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add the garlic to the food processor and mince. Next, add the basil leaves, pine nuts, salt and pepper to the bowl. While the processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil through the feed tube until all the ingredients are pureed.
2.You may need to stop the processor at this point and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula to get every mixed together. Lastly add Parmesan cheese and mix it into the rest of the mixture. If the pesto is too thick, add a tablespoon of water.

Ingredients for the Pasta
1/2 box of pasta (any kind)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 piece of chicken breast (slice thinly)
1/4 cup of sun dried tomato (slice thinly)
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 cup of low fat half and half
1/2 cup of pesto
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
some chopped tomato (for garnish)

1. Cook pasta according to the box instruction until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add in garlic and chicken meat. Stir fry until lightly brown. Add in chicken stock and sun dried tomato and simmer for a minute.
3. Add in half and half, pesto and Parmesan cheese. Bring to boil.
4. Lastly toss in the pasta and stir until well combined and sauce thicken. Check sesoning.
5. Serve warm and garnish with some fresh tomato.

Note : Cover and refrigerate the pesto until you are ready to use it. This should keep for 2 - 3 days in the fridge but freezes well if you want to keep it longer. I used wholewheat pasta for this. Make sure you check your seasoning as it might be under salt.