Time for another recipe! This one’s a pasta dish that I came up with by combining a few ones that I read online.
A few weeks ago I made basil pesto which I had frozen because I made a lot and so I wanted to incorporate that in the pasta.
I also wanted to include tomatoes in it because my dad grows a lot of vegetables in our backyard and if you know anything about growing tomatoes, they always grow in abundance and so I’m always looking at different ways to use them.
I didn’t want to make this pasta taste like a salad because pesto pastas that I have eaten in the past are salad-y tasting and served cold. And although, this tastes great cold, it tastes even better when it’s warm and freshly made!
Oh, and by the way, when adding chicken to pasta, sometimes I take a shortcut and buy rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and add that to my pastas instead of making it myself. It’s just so much easier and saves time (you’re welcome!) lol
Anyway, here’s the recipe!
Ingredients: (serves 3)
1/3 cup pesto
1/2 box whole grain penne pasta – about 2 1/2 cups (I use Barilla brand most of the time)
4 tomatoes
1/2 rotisserie chicken (diced)
1/4 onion
1 garlic clove
4 tbs olive oil
3 tbs cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp chili pepper flakes
salt and paper to taste
fresh basil & parmesan cheese to garnish
1/2 cup pasta water
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Cut tomatoes in half and line them on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with 2 tbs of olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven for 25-30 minutes until they start becoming caramelized
3. Meanwhile, you can prepare your basil pesto (I will put out a recipe for that later, but in the meantime, here is the recipe I used.) or you can also use store bought pesto.
4. Boil a pot of pasta and add half the box in it and cook according to the instructions on the box. You can reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water for use at the end to moisten the pasta if needed.
5. Dice onion and mince the garlic then saute them in the remaining 2 tbs of olive oil. When the onion is translucent, add the chili pepper flakes and pesto and stir often. When the pesto is warm, add the milk and cream cheese. Mix everything together and let it all cook and reduce a bit until it becomes bubbly and creamy
6. Toss the pasta in the creamy pesto mixture along with your diced chicken
7. When your tomatoes are done and cooled enough to handle, dice them and mix them into the pasta as well. Add the pasta reserve if you feel the pasta is a little dry.
8. Serve with fresh basil and parmesan cheese on top
I hope you make this and enjoy!
The following are some products that can be used to make this recipe:
8 Comments
um wow, this looks delicious! I’m seriously obsessed with your recipes!
Aww, thank you so much!
Ooooh, I like the baking the tomatoes first. I don’t really like tomatoes by themselves so I always just cook them in a marinara or bolognese -type sauce. I’ll have to try this recipe 😀
Yea, roasting them gives them such a great flavor. Definitely try it!
Umm yummy yummy… I can’t wait to try it!
Do let me know how it turned out, if you do! 🙂
Looking delicious and mouthwatering!!
Thanks!