Summer Pasta with Chicken and Pesto

My summer pasta with chicken and pesto is a spin on this summer puttanesca recipe from Laura in the Kitchen. This can easily be expanded to serve as many people as you wish, but also easily abbreviated to serve 2 hearty appetites. Be sure to take advantage of summer’s fresh tomatoes with this recipe. Also, I included a recipe for easy basil pesto, but if have a favorite store-bought pesto you prefer, feel free to use that instead.

Looking for more easy dinner ideas? Try my easy weekday bolognese or my chicken mole enchiladas.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20-25 minutes

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

Summer Pasta:

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp of capers

1/4 cup of pitted kalamata olives

3 vine-ripened tomatoes, diced

fresh basil, for garnish

salt, to taste

grated parmesan

12 oz of the pasta of your choice

Chicken:

6-12 oz of chicken breast

seasoning of your choice

Basil Pesto:

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts (can sub chopped walnuts)

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more to taste

Preparation

Basil Pesto:

In a food processor, add basil, parmesan, pine nuts, and garlic. Start the processor, then through the opening pour in your olive oil to form an emulsion. Once done, give it a taste, then add salt and pepper as necessary. Set the pesto aside until you’re ready to assemble your dish.

Summer Pasta:

Fill a large pot with water, add a generous pinch of salt, then bring to a boil.

In a medium skillet, add the olive oil and garlic, then saute until the garlic is lightly golden. Add the tomatoes, bring the sauce to a bubble then add the olives, capers, and basil and simmer on medium heat for about 15 minutes. When the sauce is about 10 minutes away from being done, add the pasta to the boiling water and allow it to cook per the package instructions.

Chicken:

While the sauce is wrapping up and the pasta is cooking, saute the chicken until golden and fully cooked through, 3-4 minutes per side. With the chicken set aside, spoon on some pesto then allow the chicken to rest before slicing.

Putting it all together:

Reserve about 1/4 cup of the starchy cooking water, then drain the pasta. Give the sauce a taste and adjust for any seasonings if necessary, then add the pasta to the sauce. Add a splash of the starchy water and parm, cook all together for about a minute, then serve summer pasta with chicken and pesto.

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