I love a good pasta dish, especially when it’s fresh and bright like this Chicken Pesto Orecchiette!
(This post contains affiliate links. I may make a commission from sales but your price remains the same.)
Chicken Pesto Orecchiette:
I make this pasta dish with orecchiette pasta. Orecchiette is a traditional pasta from Puglia, Italy, shaped like small domes that are perfect for holding sauces. Of course, you may use any shape pasta you wish. The method for this recipe is super straight forward and easy: cook pasta to package directions, make fresh basil pesto, toss pesto with pasta, add sliced chicken breast and sun dried tomatoes, top with goat cheese and pine nuts. You’re done! Yup, that’s it.
Tips for COOKING PASTA:
When cooking pasta there are only a few things to remember:
1. Follow pasta box cooking instructions, they usually are right on.
2. Salt the water for flavor.
3. To keep pasta from sticking be sure to have lots of water in your pot, at least several inches above the pasta to allow room for expansion, and…
4. stir frequently
5. And in this case, do not rinse! If you’re using a sauce, the rule of thumb is do not rinse the pasta. The starch helps the sauce to stick to the pasta.
The Chicken: I Love to Give you Choices!
I offer this Chicken Pesto Orecchiette recipe using store bought rotisserie chicken breasts to keep things quick and simple, but if you prefer, you can use my juicy cooktop chicken breasts in this recipe. Either way, this meal is delicious. If you choose to make your own chicken breasts, add 15 minutes to cooking time.
The Basil Pesto:
Fresh pesto is really simple. All you need is a food processor. You can use a full size processor but if that’s not in the budget, don’t fret, I have used my mini processor for this job a million times. It works great!
Fresh pesto is made with basil leaves, olive oil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, lemon zest and sea salt. If you want to see a step by step video, click here!
Note: For this recipe I use more olive oil than usual so the pesto is less like a paste and more like a sauce. This makes it easier to toss with the chicken and pasta. And the outcome is so pretty.
Love Basil Pesto and Need More Recipes?
If you love this Chicken Pesto Orecchiette, you’ll want to try my New Potatoes with Basil Pesto!
The Recipe: Chicken Pesto Orecchiette
What you need: for pesto you will need a food processor. If a big one isn’t in your budget, Cuisinart makes a fabulous mini processor for around $35! (affiliate links) You will also need a microplane for grating parmesan. As always I use the best sea salt ever, Maldon Flaked Sea Salt!
A delicious, fresh pasta dish with chicken and sun dried tomatoes
- 16 oz Orecchiette pasta (or any pasta you wish)
- 2 rotisserie chicken breasts, sliced 1/2" thick
- 4 oz soft goat cheese
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil
- 2-3 small garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/3 cup pine nuts (plus more for garnish)
- 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup  extra virgin olive oil (you may use less)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
-
Place a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta to package instructions. While you wait for water to boil, slice rotisserie chicken and make pesto.
-
Pulse garlic in food processor, then add basil leaves, pine nuts and parmesan. Puree in processor, slowly adding olive oil till desired until consistency is achieved, you may not use all of it. We want this pesto to be more like a sauce than a paste.
Add a generous pinch of sea salt and a few turns of fresh pepper, scrape down sides of processor and process again adding more olive oil if necessary. Tip: To save extra pesto, just place in a small dish, drizzle with olive oil to prevent oxidation and cover with lid or plastic. Keep in fridge for up to 5 days.Â
-
When pasta is done cooking, strain (do not rinse) add pasta to a large bowl. Add chicken, and sun dried tomatoes, then add half the pesto and toss until evenly distributed. Now you add pesto a tablespoon or two at a time until the pasta is covered to your liking. Some people like their pesto light, some heavy, you decide. Personally, I use all of it 🙂
-
To plate: place pasta on individual plates, top with soft goat cheese and pine nuts. Serve.
I offer this recipe using store bought rotisserie chicken breasts, but if you prefer, you can use my juicy cooktop chicken breasts in this recipe. Either way, this meal is delicious. If you choose to make your own chicken breasts, add 15 minutes to cooking time.Â
We small bloggers need all the help we can get. Subscribing and sharing on social media is very appreciated!
STANDARD FTC DISCLOSURE and Privacy Policy: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please note that I only endorse products that are in alignment withThe Organic Kitchen’’s ideals and that I believe would be of value to my readers.The Organic Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. View The Organic Kitchen’s Privacy Policy
Leave a Reply