Chicken, roast tomatoes and homemade pesto pasta

This "chicken, roast tomatoes & homemade pesto pasta" is a must-try recipe, a delightful and satisfying dish for all ages.

Chicken, roast tomatoes and homemade pesto pasta

This pesto pasta with chicken and cherry tomatoes makes a great delicious family meal, especially successful with kids.

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings servings

Calories 714kcal

Author Ramona Sebastian

Ingredients

500 g spaghetti (dry)
500 g chicken (boneless, skinless)
300 g cherry tomatoes (halved)
2 tablespoon olive oil
salt
pepper

For the homemade pesto:

50 g basil (fresh) roughly chopped, and a few for decoration
4 tablespoon olive oil
4-5 tablespoon pine nuts keep a few to sprinkle over at the end
1 clove garlic (grated for ease)
Himalayan salt (pink)
1 pinch pepper (freshly ground)
30 g parmesan (shredded) leave some aside for serving
1 pinch red chilli flakes (optional) for serving
few basil leaves to decorate

Metric - US Imperial

Instructions

Preheat the oven at 200 C.
In an oven tray place the washed, dried and halved cherry tomatoes (place the cut side up). Drizzle some olive oil, season with salt and pepper and bake for about 15-20 minutes.
Boil the chicken in a pan with a little salt for about 30 minutes (15 min in a pessure cooker). Take out and place in an oven tray and bake for about 10 min to get some nice golden colour.
Place a pan on the stove and using the water that chicken cooked in cook the pasta as directed on the package. When ready, take out in a sieve and drain, maybe holding on to a little water for the pasta for later.
While pasta cooks and the tomatoes and chicken bake nicely, take out your food processor and place in almost all of the pesto sauce ingredients (basil, pine nuts, grated garlic salt, pepper). Give them a few good old pulses then add oil little by little (spoon by spoon), whizz a little further until it all becomes a smoother paste/sauce. When you are happy with the texture, add the parmesan cheese and let it whizz for a minute longer.
In a larger bowl, toss the pesto sauce with the pasta together. Add the retained chicken/pasta water so it does not feel dry.
Shred the chicken and add to the pasta along with the cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle some parmesan and the chilly flakes (optional) and serve.

Notes

Most of the time unless I run out of it, instead of spaghetti we prefer using linguini - it tastes divine!

Also, pasta can be wholemeal and preferably is to get those as they defo a healthier option.

Tasting some homemade pesto pasta with a fork

Pesto sauce, if you do not fancy making it at home, the one that you can buy in jars is pretty good. I just prefer making it at home as the one I normally buy tends to be a little too salty.

The chicken, you can choose to grill it but make sure it is not too dry. Also, left over chicken from a previous night bake is also very very good for a cold salad.

I many times put tuna (canned) instead of chicken and it tastes sublime!

Nutrition