Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Chicken Pesto Pasta

The family party was last Sunday, and it was a hit.  I ended up doing lime jello jigglers, a huge green salad, broccoli pasta salad, rolls dyed green, and chicken kabobs with onions and green pepper.  To go with the salad and chicken, I made homemade pesto sauce and homemade Cafe Rio salad dressing, which were both yummy.  I had a little bit of chicken, broccoli, and pesto leftover, so I made this for dinner Monday night:

1 chicken breast, diced and seasoned with McCormick's Rotisserie Chicken seasoning
1 shallot, diced
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil or butter
1 cup broccoli, cut into florets
1/3 to 1/2 box of penne pasta (I like whole wheat or Barilla Plus)
2 Tbs. flour
1/2-2/3 cup skim milk
3 heaping Tbs. prepared pesto sauce
4 sundried tomatoes, chopped
parmesan cheese, for garnish.

In a large pot, boil water for pasta.  Cook pasta according to package directions, adding in broccoli for last 2 minutes of cooking.  Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, melt butter or heat olive oil.  Saute shallot until it begins to soften, then add chicken, seasoning with salt and pepper.  When chicken is browned and nearly cooked through, sprinkle with flour and cook an additional 1-2 minutes.  Whisk in milk and bring mixture to a bubble.  Add in pesto, sundried tomatoes, and cooked pasta and broccoli, until heated through and thoroughly combined.

This made a big, hearty meal for just the two of us, but it can easily be doubled for larger families.

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