A jar of premade pesto, pasta and a barbecue chicken come together for this simple chicken pesto pasta. It is one of our favourite midweek dinners because it can be thrown together in no time at all.
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Ingredients
Method
Preheat grill. Place cherry truss tomatoes with stems attached on an oven tray.
Drizzle with 1 teaspoon balsamic glaze; grill about 10 minutes or until tomato skins begin to split.
Meanwhile, cook penne pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender; drain, reserving â…“ cup of the cooking liquid.
Return pasta to pan with â…“ cup basil pesto, 2 cups shredded barbecued chicken, tomatoes and reserved cooking liquid.
Stir gently over low heat until heated through.
Serve chicken pesto pasta sprinkled with 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan and some micro basil.
What to add to pesto pasta?
Here, we’ve added chicken for protein and fresh cherry tomatoes for some veg (and some colour). But pesto pasta is a great recipe to get creative with.
Have a look in your fridge and pantry, and use ingredients that you have on hand to bulk out your meal. Spinach and broccolini work well here, as does salmon in place of the chicken. You can also top the chicken pesto pasta with toasted pine nuts, spring onion, or even fresh bocconcini.
Variations on this recipe
Try our cheesy chicken pesto pasta bake. For a red pesto instead of this basil pesto, check out our chicken and red pesto pasta recipe, which also uses mustard for extra flavour.
Even more quick pasta dinners
For more quick pasta meals, explore our collection of 30 delicious pasta recipes that you can get on the table in under 30 minutes. Julie Goodwin’s quick orecchiette pasta is a particular favourite, made with only 5 ingredients!
