Chicken and Green Pesto Pasta Recipe

Succulent pieces of chicken are combined with tangy green pesto and zingy parmesan cheese in this delicious chicken and green pesto pasta recipe.

This recipe is inspired by a dish my daughter once ate in an Italian restaurant. I felt so happy that I was able to recreate it from the ingredients she’d described.

You can pick any type of pasta you fancy but it works particularly well with pasta shapes like bows, shells or penne/rigatoni as the sauce clings nicely to it. If you have other salad ingredients feel free to add them in at the end.

If you like you could add some roasted Mediterranean vegetables to give it an extra nourishing boost. 

Ingredients for chicken and pesto pasta 

• Pasta 
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil 
• A knob of butter or margarine
• 2 cloves of garlic, skinned and finely grated or crushed (optional) 
• Skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, sliced finely (or leftover cooked roast chicken, diced)
• Smoked bacon or pancetta, cut into thin strips (optional)
• Jar of green pesto sauce (you may not need all of it)
• A little chopped red chilli (optional) 
• Cucumber, washed and diced (optional)
• Cherry tomatoes washed and halved (optional) 
• Tinned drained sweetcorn (optional) 
• Mozzarella balls (optional)
• Parmesan cheese, finely grated or a good mature cheddar cheese, finely grated (optional)
• Freshly ground black pepper or freshly ground black peppercorns

Method for chicken and green pesto pasta recipe

Cook the pasta of your choice according to the packet instructions, using plenty of boiling, salted water. 

Whilst the pasta is cooking, put the oil and the butter in a large pan over a medium heat with the chicken, garlic and smoked bacon if using. Stir to stop it from sticking.

Cook until the bacon is looking crispy and the chicken is cooked through.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and put to one side, saving one tablespoonful of the pasta water to go in the sauce.

Stir together the cooked pasta, the chicken, bacon, garlic and enough pesto to coat the pasta 

Add a little pasta water if needed and stir well

Stir in the diced cucumber and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper or freshly ground mixed peppercorns and serve with a tossed green salad and garlic bread if liked.

What to do with the leftovers

This is nice served cold as a salad the next day

Cooking tips:

To stop the garlic from burning, cook the chicken, pancetta or smokey bacon over a medium heat and keep stirring

Variations on the theme

You can use red pesto in place of the green pesto or really spice things up by using a chilli pesto.

You could add in other spring-like ingredients such as sauteed courgettes, or cooked peas, or steamed asparagus. Or add in some of your favourite salad ingredients

If you fancy you could use cooked sausages in addition to the chicken. 

https://www.mamacoopskitchen.co.uk/sausage-and-red-pesto-pasta-recipe/

https://www.mamacoopskitchen.co.uk/arrabbiata-sauce-recipe/

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Money saving tip:

When choosing pesto sauce experiement with different brands as the more expensive ones aren’t always significantly nicer than the cheaper ones. Try a few and see which ones you like.