Chicken and pasta are a great combination. When you add in a little homemade pesto sauce – you have got a dish fit for a king! Creamy Pesto Chicken came from trying to get the flavors of pesto without it over powering the whole dish. This meal is simple to put together and full of flavor.
I have played around with pesto for a while now – trying to come up with a good combination for the taste I was after. And I think I finally nailed it – fresh basil and cashews! For some reason the flavor of pine nuts just didn’t fly with my family. Maybe it’s the actual “pine tree” flavor they are detecting? I have found that the cashews give enough oil and nuttiness to the sauce that you the basil really stands out.
I don’t often use Angel Hair pasta because it can be a little temperamental. It has a much smaller window of being done and being mush. You have to watch it a little closer than other types of pasta. But with something as delicate as a pesto chicken, I wanted a more dainty pasta to go with it. Be sure to spoon some of the extra pesto left in the baking dish onto to you pasta – it is so yummy!
This is one of those dishes that takes a few minutes to prep at the beginning and then you just put it in the oven and wait it out. I love those kinds of dishes for weeknights because then you can get something else done while it’s cooking – like fold a load of laundry, help a kiddo with a homework assignment or sit and relax for a few minutes after a long day at work!
Now let’s get cookin’!
Creamy Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 Chicken Breasts
- 2 cups Mozzarella shredded
- 12 oz Cream Cheese
For the Pesto
- 3 cups Basil rough chopped
- ½ cup Cashews
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- ⅓ cup Avocado Oil
For the Pasta
- 1 lb Angel Hair Pasta
- 4 tbsp Butter
- ½ cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- 1 tsp Basil dried
Instructions
- Prepare all of the ingredients. Preheat oven to 400 deg. Start boiling water for pasta.
- In a bowl, combine all pesto ingredients except oil, With immersion blender blitz until smooth. Then slowly stream in oil while still blending. Once fully blended, mix in cream cheese.
- In a 13×9 glass baking dish, lay each chicken breast out. Spread with creamy pesto mixture then top with mozzarella cheese. Place in oven and cook for 30 minutes.
- Add pasta to boiling water and cook as directed on package. Drain in colander and return to pot. Add butter, cheese and basil. Toss until well coated.
Estelle Forrest self-published this cookbook after a lot of playing around in the kitchen. You can purchase your own copy here:
AVAILABLE IN PRINT OR KINDLE eBOOK VERSIONS
This looks delicious! I am trying new dishes throughout this quarantine, I am adding this to the list!
This looks delicious. Thanks for sharing at #omhgww.
Great recipe. I haven’t used pesto in this way. Thanks for the ideas and for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop. Can’t wait to see more this Wednesday.
Love the idea of adding pesto to cream cheese. Thank you for sharing on Fiesta Friday.
I’ll be featuring you when the next party starts, thanks for joining us at the To Grandma’s house we go link party!
Yum! I love anything with pesto on top! My boys love angel hair pasta, and I’ve begun to like it best too!
I also use cashews for my pesto, since pine nuts are so expensive! I make a vegan pesto, and we love it!
Thank you for sharing at the Homestead Blog Hop!
Blessings! Laurie
Here is my Plant Based Pesto recipe for anyone needing a vegan option. 🙂
https://www.ridgehavenhomestead.com/perfectly-plant-based-pesto/
Coming over from You’re the Star Blog share and KrisandLarry.com – This looks so tasty! We use cashews or almonds in our pesto as well (Hard to find pine nuts in my area)