Pesto Pasta Bake with Chicken

I. Love. Pasta. There. I said it. Who doesn’t? It’s comforting. There are so many different kinds and shapes which makes dishes fun and interesting. There are many sauces and ingredients that you can add to make it incredibly awesome! That’s why tonight I decided we need to have a baked pasta with pesto and chicken.

The pasta I ended up using was Trottole, something I had never seen until a few years ago at our local Safeway. It’s a really “fun” pasta, if there’s such a thing. It’s corkscrew shaped and holds sauce very well. You can substitute anything that is on hand. Penne works really well as does any shell-type pasta. Make it your own!

chicken_pesto_pasta_bake

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Pesto Pasta Bake with Chicken
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts poached
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tbsp Kosher salt
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 - 4 oz jar of Classico pesto sauce
  • 2 cups frozen peas, thawed
  • 1 - 16 oz box of pasta
  • 2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Salt and white pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 375º F.
  2. In a medium skillet, put chicken in enough water to cover almost to the top. Add dried basil and kosher salt, cover, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook for 10 minutes.
  3. When chicken is done, set aside to cool and clean out skillet.
  4. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook pasta until just done following package directions. Drain and set aside.
  5. Place skillet over medium heat, add olive and chopped onion. Cook until soft and translucent, about 7-8 minutes.
  6. Chop chicken and put in a large bowl. Add the pasta, cooked onion, thawed peas, pesto sauce, 1 cup of shredded Parmesan, mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Mix to combine well.
  7. In a 9" x 13" casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray add the pasta, pesto, chicken, and cheese mixture, spread until even and top with 1 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.
  8. Put into pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.