Below is the recipe for the best pasta dish ever–and I’m not joking about this. After eating this pasta, I’ve found that pasta from restaurants just isn’t as amazing anymore. That’s how good this recipe is! I scrolled through hundreds of pasta recipes trying to find a pasta that suited my taste buds. Finally, I came across the perfect pasta: chicken pesto pasta. Pesto pasta is so simple to make! All you need is a good pesto sauce, pasta, milk, and chicken (if you want to add that). Yep, that’s it. With only 4 main ingredients, this pasta is exploding with flavour. Since this pasta doesn’t require a lot of cheese (or any cheese at all, depending on your preference), it’s not too heavy either. For this recipe, I drew inspiration from Natasha’s kitchen, but I also added my own spin on things and added a few more spices to really make this pasta as tasty as ever!
Note: this recipe feeds approximately 6 people.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 1 tsp cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3-4 crushed cloves of garlic
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 4 Tbsp pesto sauce (tip: you can learn how to make your own here!)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 12 oz fettuccini pasta or macaroni
Instructions
- Cut 1 chicken breast in half to form strips. Add crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon of cajun seasoning, and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning to marinate the chicken. Leave the chicken to marinate for at least 15 minutes (although I would recommend 30 minutes to an hour to really get the best flavour for the chicken).
- While the chicken is marinating, cook the pasta in salted water according to the packaging instructions. For this recipe you can use just about any pasta, but I recommend fettuccine or macaroni. Remove pasta from the water once the noodles are al dente.
- Once the chicken is done marinating, heat a large pan and put in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Once the oil has been heated, fry the chicken for 5 minutes on both sides or until chicken is golden brown. While the chicken is frying, use a fork to shred the chicken. Add seasoning (like salt and pepper) to taste. Remove chicken once fully cooked and leave it to cool.
- In the same pan that was used to cook the chicken, add 2 cups of heavy cream (you can substitute this for half and half if you prefer a lighter sauce) and cook it on medium low heat. Stir occasionally for 2 minutes. Add 4 tbsp of pesto sauce into the cream, along with the shredded chicken, stirring occasionally.
- Once the sauce has a light green hue and the chicken is completely submerged in the sauce, add the pasta to the pan and mix in with the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and eat right away.
Buon Appetito!