Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta

A lovely light pasta, this creamy chicken pesto pasta is our new summer favourite.

Creamy chicken pesto pasta that contains no nuts? Say what?!

I had a horrible experience a couple of weeks ago with pine nuts. Now I’m sure this was a thing, because there was no other explanation! A few days after eating pine nuts on my pizza on a Friday night, I started having this horrible metallic taste in my mouth. Now I mean truly disgusting! Everything I ate tasted likes chemicals or metal, it was the weirdest thing! There was just this horrible lingering metal taste in my mouth for about a week! I basically couldn’t eat anything! So naturally, as most people do, I started to search ‘metallic taste’ on Google (I know, bad idea), and came across this thing called ‘pine mouth’ which is essentially a metallic taste in your mouth, lasting up to two weeks caused by eating contaminated pine nuts from China! Needless to say, I’ve ditched the pine nuts, but my pine nut fear still lingers!

So how does this relate to a creamy chicken pesto pasta? Well, pesto traditionally has pine nuts in it, but after that experience, I can NOT go anywhere near pine nuts anymore! Which is a shame because I absolutely love pine nuts! So I decided to make a pesto that didn’t have any nuts in it, and I must admit, I was pretty happy with the results. For a creamy style pasta, this creamy chicken pesto pasta is deceivingly light and fresh – perfect for Summer! I can just imagine in a few months time, sitting outside in the sun, sipping on a wine and scoffing down this dish because it is so darn good!

The dish itself is actually very easy to make, because once you’ve made the pesto, all you really need to do it cook the pasta, cook the chicken then add the rest of the ingredients. It took me about 20 minutes to make this dish which was awesome, because I was starving last night and didn’t think I could wait much longer! We are loving this dish for our next F*ck it Friday meal, because it’s not overly heavy. It’s actually just perfect and exactly how I feel a Summer pasta should be! So, happy creamy chicken pesto pasta making! And remember if you make a dish, tag us on Instagram #healthypears

Creamy Chicken Pesto Pasta

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 2

Author: Healthy Pears

Our creamy chicken pesto pasta is not too heavy, and a perfect Summer night's dish!

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Ingredients

Pesto

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1 garlic clove
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
• salt and pepper

Pasta

• 2 cups Rotini pasta
• 1 chicken breast
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• salt and pepper
• your homemade pesto

Instructions

Pesto

1. In a food processor, combine the basil leaves, garlic, parmesan, salt and pepper, lemon rind and lemon juice. Whiz for 30 seconds.
2. With the food processor still running, add the olive oil one tablespoon at a time through the funnel, until the basil pesto comes together. *

Pasta

1. Dice chicken breast into bite size pieces
2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large frying pan over medium - high heat
3. Add chicken, and cook until browned and almost ready.
4. Meanwhile make your pasta according to packet instructions.
5. Once chicken is browned and mostly cooked, add the pesto and cream.
6. Bring to a light simmer for about 10 minutes, then add the tomatoes.
7. Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes, or until tomatoes are just done
8. Season well with salt and pepper
9. Serve with parmesan cheese

Recipe Notes

*my blender blade has almost broken, so I ended up with a rather chunky pesto. Blend until relatively smooth, unless you prefer chunky like mine.