Very delicious filling pasta with all the right goodies to make this a winner. Change up your pesto choice perhaps, or use a different cheese. Everything goes with chicken right. I bought the pre chopped bacon bits from the shop. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 cups cooked Penne pasta
1 large chicken breast, cubed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped bacon
1 stick celery, thinly sliced
1 cup of pesto (I used a basil and cashew pesto)
1/2 cup mayo
1 cup fresh rocket leaves
1/3 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
Method
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Marinate the chicken in the paprika, oregano and 1 tbsp olive oil seasoning with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and fry the bacon until crispy. Transfer to a plate with kitchen paper and drain. Set aside. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until browned on all sides. Add the wine to the pan and simmer scraping the bottom. Allow to simmer until all the wine has evaporated and the chicken is tender and cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
Once the chicken has cooled down pull apart slightly by hand. Mix together the chicken, bacon, rocket leaves, pesto, mayo, celery and Parmesan cheese. Place in a bowl in the fridge. This will be a more chilled meal so could work great as a pasta salad side dish too.
Start boiling your pasta as per packet instructions. Before draining the pasta reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta, remove chicken mixture from fridge and add pasta. Mix well. Add 1/4 of pasta water and mix until the sauce looks more creamy. Add more pasta water if needed. Serve and enjoy!
Cooking with Lindi 