Best 5 Basil Walnut Pesto Pasta And Chicken Recipes

CHICKEN PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, add the diced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté the chicken until golden on all sides and fully cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
• In a large stockpot of boiling, generously salted water, cook the pasta to al dente according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid, then drain. Return pasta to the stockpot.
• While the pasta cooks, in a small bowl, whisk together the pesto and Greek yogurt until evenly combined.
• Stir in the spinach, breaking it up as needed and stirring until evenly combined.
• To the stockpot with the pasta, add the pesto/Greek yogurt mixture. Gently stir to coat the noodles in the pesto mixture. If the sauce is too thick, splash in some of the pasta water. It should be a little saucy.
• Add the cooked chicken, cherry tomatoes, and red pepper flakes. Gently toss to combine.
• Pour half of the pasta into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup mozzarella and half of the basil. Layer the remaining half of the pasta over the top, spreading it into an even layer. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and just barely starts to turn golden. Remove and sprinkle immediately with the Parmesan cheese and fresh basil. Serve warm.

SPINACH, WALNUT AND GOLDEN RAISIN PESTO PASTA WITH ITALIAN CHICKEN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Grill the sausages, covered with a medium heatproof bowl, until nice and charred and no longer pink on the inside, flipping once, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board, let cool slightly, then slice on the bias. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Poach the garlic cloves in the boiling water for 5 minutes, then transfer them with a slotted spoon to a food processor. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook to al dente according to the package directions.
• Meanwhile, add the walnuts to the food processor with the garlic and pulse until chopped, about 8 times. Add the spinach, basil, cheese, olive oil, raisins, salt, pepper and lemon zest and juice. Pulse about 10 times, until combined but still rustically chopped. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Using a spider, add the pasta to the skillet. Add the spinach pesto and toss to combine. Heat until warmed through. Season to taste if necessary and serve immediately topped with grilled sausage slices.

BASIL WALNUT PESTO PASTA AND CHICKEN

Steps:

• 1. Put basil.walnuts,and parmesan cheese in food processor. Blend well. add remaining ingredients starting with olive oil,and sour cream. You can adapt ingredients to get the flavor you are looking for.
• 2. Chill
• 3. Keep in fridge and stir in to warm pasta before serving. I do a serving at a time.
• 4. Cut chicken breast up. I use chicken tenders. cook in olive oil add a clove of garlic minced when chicken is almost done. Don't want to burn garlic. add garlic salt and pepper to taste. I transfer my chicken to grill to give it that grilled flavor.
• 5. steam broccoli.Serve brocooli and chicken on top of pasta with sauce
• 6. note: you may use lite sour cream and reduced calorie bread in this recipe. Originally I came up with this to reduce the calories.The bread gives it a texture as if there is more cheese in it than there really is.

EASY WALNUT BASIL PESTO

Steps:

• Pulse walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic in a food processor until walnuts are finely chopped. Add basil leaves a little at a time, pulsing until a smooth paste forms. Mix in Parmesan cheese.

PASTA WITH CREAMY WALNUT PESTO

Steps:

• Boil the pasta. Meanwhile, put the walnuts and garlic in a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Add the basil, cheese, butter and oil and pulse a few more times. Season.
• Pour the cream into a pan and warm through. Add two-thirds of the pesto, then gently heat to loosen it. When the pasta is ready, drain, reserving 2 tbsp of the cooking water, then mix both with the sauce. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the extra Parmesan and basil, if using. The leftover pesto will keep in the fridge for up to a week, or frozen for up to a month.