Kally’s Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Chicken

Hello and welcome! Today’s recipe is another shout out to my friend in St. Louis who has only two more chemo treatments left! While I was visiting her, I made her go-to comfort food, Pesto Pasta with cherry tomatoes. I have to ask her to be sure, but I think she has pesto pasta a few times a week. So today I wanted to give her a variation on her comfort pasta: Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Chicken. It’s a quick and easy recipe, let’s get to it!

This particular version is something I have made often, since I discovered Trader Joe’s frozen chicken nuggets many years ago. You can use any cooked chicken you like; be it leftovers, rotisserie or otherwise. But I will say the breaded nuggets are so good! They get a crunchy exterior in the oven and while the pesto does soften some of that crunch, a lot of it remains for a wonderful texture variation.

Prep

If you’re on team chicken nugget, get the oven preheating and get 4 quarts of water set to boil for the pasta. Bake the chicken nuggets and when they are halfway done (at about minute 10), add the kosher salt and then the pasta to the boiling water. This fusilli will take about 8 minutes to get to al dente, stir occasionally. While this is happening, slice the cherry or grape tomatoes into quarters, lengthwise.

Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside, then drain the noodles. By now the chicken nuggets should be ready. Because they’re still super hot, I use my kitchen shears to cut the nuggets in half.

So we have 1 cup of pesto (I made this pesto but you can use store bought if you prefer). Then we have our prepped tomatoes, the cooked al dente fusilli and the pasta water.

In the same pot we used to boil the pasta, pour the pasta back into the pot and set the burner to low. Add the pesto to the pasta and pour about half of the pasta water in, and vigorously stir. Use as much more pasta water as needed and keep stirring to create a creamy pesto sauce that coats all the pasta.

Add the halved chicken nuggets and fold them into the pesto pasta.

Cut the heat and fold in the tomatoes.

And that’s it! We are ready to serve. Scoop a portion into a wide shallow bowl and top with parmesan cheese, flaky finishing salt and black pepper.

Kally’s Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Chicken

Such a an easy, quick bowl of goodness! If you like pesto, and you like chicken, you know that pesto and chicken were meant to go together and this Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Chicken is a perfect combination of the two. The breaded chicken nuggets are my favorite way to go with this recipe because of that crispy breading, but as I mentioned, you can use any cooked chicken. Adding the protein makes this a complete meal and is perfect when you need to keep your strength up!

Definitely give Kally’s Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Chicken a try and let me know what you think! Want another comforting pasta dish that is perfect for summer? Try Caramelized Corn and Asparagus Pasta. See you tomorrow, take care and be well, friends. xo Kelly

Key Equipment

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Kally's Pesto Pasta with Tomatoes and Chicken

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Dinner, Main Course – American/Italian

By Kelly Djalali – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 Minutes – Cooking Time: 15-20 Minutes – Total Time: ~30 Minutes

Fresh pesto coats fusilli pasta with cherry tomatoes and crispy baked chicken nuggets. An easy recipe for an ultra-comforting bowl of pasta.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Frozen Chicken Nuggets
• 1 lb. Fusilli Pasta
• 2 tbsp. Diamond Kosher Salt (for pasta water) or 1.5 tbsp. Morton's Kosher Salt or 2-3 tsp. Table Salt
• 1 cup Halved Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
• 1 cup Pesto
• Parmesan Cheese, for garnish
• Flaky Finishing Salt, for garnish
• Black Pepper, for garnish

Instructions

1

If you're on team chicken nugget, get the oven preheating and get 4 quarts of water set to boil for the pasta. Bake the chicken nuggets and when they are halfway done (at about minute 10), add the kosher salt and then the pasta to the boiling water.

2

Boil the pasta for about 8 minutes until al dente, stir occasionally.

3

Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside, then drain the noodles. By now the chicken nuggets should be ready. Because they're still super hot, I use my kitchen shears to cut the nuggets in half.

4

In the same pot we used to boil the pasta, pour the pasta back into the pot and set the burner to low. Add the pesto to the pasta and pour about half of the pasta water in, and vigorously stir. Use as much more pasta water as needed and keep stirring to create a creamy pesto sauce that coats all the pasta.

5

Add the halved chicken nuggets and fold them into the pesto pasta.

6

Cut the heat and fold in the tomatoes.

7

Scoop a portion into a wide shallow bowl and top with parmesan cheese, flaky finishing salt and black pepper.

Notes

Instead of nuggets, you can use 1-2 cups leftover chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken, if you prefer.

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