Basil Pesto Pasta with Chicken
Submitted by happyzhangbo
Quick creamy basil pesto pasta topped with pan-fried chicken breast, ready in under 30 minutes. Homemade pesto blended with cream coats every strand for a rich, herbaceous weeknight dinner for two.
YIELD
2 servingsPREP
7 minCOOK
17 minREADY
26 minWeeknight dinner for two doesn’t get much better than this.
Homemade basil pesto made with fresh basil, Parmesan, almonds, and garlic gets blended with cream into a lush, herbaceous sauce that clings to every bite of pasta.
Top it with golden pan-fried chicken breast and you’ve got a restaurant-quality plate in under 30 minutes.
The whole thing comes together with minimal cleanup since you’re working with just a food processor, a saucepan, and a skillet.
Pro Tips
- Pound the chicken breast to an even thickness before cooking so it cooks through without drying out
- Reserve a splash of starchy pasta water before draining; stir it into the pesto cream if the sauce needs loosening
- Warm the pesto and cream gently over low heat to keep the sauce from separating
Variations
- Swap almonds for pine nuts or walnuts for a more traditional pesto flavor
- Toss in halved cherry tomatoes and a handful of baby spinach with the pasta for extra color
- Skip the chicken and add sauteed shrimp for a surf-style twist
Ingredients
Directions
Process all pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender.
Add more olive oil if you see pesto sauce is dry.
Mix pesto with the cream in a saucepan and slowly warm it on low-heat.
In a frying pan, cook onion with oil for 2 min.
Add chicken breast and fry 5 to 8 min on each side.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, bring 4 cups of water with some salt to boil.
Add pasta and cook for 5 to 10 min.
Drain the pasta.
Blend pesto and cream mix with pasta and serve with the chicken on top.
You can also cut chicken into small pieces and mix with the pasta before serving.
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