Healthy Chicken Pesto Pasta

Ready In: 25mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups of medium packed basil

• ¼ cup pine nuts (or walnuts if you want to be even healthier)

• 2-3 cloves of garlic

• Extra virgin olive oil

• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

• Salt

• Pepper

• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)

• 2 large chicken breasts

• 4/5 packet of 400g of a pasta of choice (I used a wholegrain bowtie pasta)

Method

Step1. preheat over to 200°c/180 fan-forced

Step 2. Cook the Pasta – place pasta in boiling water and cook for 7-8 minutes or until ‘al dente’. Drain water once complete and set aside

Step 3. Make Pesto - place the basil, pine nuts, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, parmesan cheese, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper in a food processor. Pulse and blend until everything has been mixed. The pesto should be thick, but not runny. Put the pesto into a large bowl. Mix through the chilli flakes (optional)

Step 4. Cook Chicken - heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add chicken breast and cook until lightly golden. Then transfer to a tray lined with foil or baking paper and bake in the oven for 8 -11minutes or until completely cooked through. Once the chicken is cooked, let cool and shred into thin strips

Step 5. Combine – add the pesto and shredded chicken breast to the pasta and mixed through until combined

Serve with a side of rocket, cherry tomato salad and a splash of balsamic glaze

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