Chicken & Pesto Pasta

One of my favorite herbs is basil - it has such a sweet & flavorful taste and the smell permeates the car, then kitchen when you bring it home leaving me smiling.  This star of this dish is the pesto - since we don't eat meat and dairy products together, there is no cheese, but with the garlic & balsamic you don't really miss it. Our CSA has been providing us with wonderful fresh garlic - in the early spring it was green garlic (think along the lines of green onions, but garlicky), but has turned into full heads of garlic in the last few weeks.  So, here we get to meld the flavors of basil and garlic into something that tastes great and is fairly easy to make.

Chicken & Pesto Pasta

I think of this as a three component meal: you need to make the pesto, cook the pasta (I use linguine or spaghetti, but you can use whatever you have in the pantry), and cook the chicken.  Then you can throw all three together for dinner.  Sometimes this means using leftover grilled chicken breasts.  You can make the pesto ahead of time, or you can make a lot and freeze it in portions for later use.  I frequently add tomatoes to the dish, and it certainly would be good with other vegetables like bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, etc.

Pesto

6 medium cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch basil (~ 2 cups of leaves)
1 T balsamic
1 T pine nuts (these can be left out or substituted with other nuts such as pecans)
salt & pepper


Combine all ingredients in a small food processor & chop.  Taste your pesto!  If it needs more garlic or olive oil or balsamic, feel free to add more.  Salt & pepper to your personal taste.

Pasta

1.  Cook 1 lb of pasta according to instructions on package.  I like to use spaghetti or linguine, but penne or any other pasta works well too.  Also, try whole wheat - the nuttiness goes well with the pesto. 

2.  Drain pasta, return to pan, and toss with 1-2 T olive oil to keep pasta from sticking.

Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
~ 1/2 T rosemary  (I use chopped fresh rosemary from the yard, but dried works too)
salt & pepper

Pat breasts dry and season with rosemary, salt, and pepper.  You can grill the breasts, or pan fry them.  I suppose you could even bake them.  I've been known to use my panini grill to put a crisp outside on the breasts and have them cooked through in less than 10 minutes.

Putting it all together

1.  Add pesto to pasta and stir to coat.
2.  Add any fresh vegetables such as chopped tomatoes to the pesto pasta.
3.  Slice chicken and mix in.  Alternatively, for a nicer presentation, put pasta on plates or in bowls, and top with sliced chicken.

Enjoy!