How To Make Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta
This flavorful Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta dish introduces a new world of flavor with a medley of chicken with creamy florentine mixed with basil pesto.
Serves:
Ingredients
- 12ozshort pasta,dried, such as bowties, penne, gemelli, etc.
- 4chicken breast cutlets,(1 to 1½ lbs in total)
- salt and black pepper
- 2tbspextra-virgin olive oil
- 1medium onion,(about 1 cup) chopped
- 3clovesgarlic,minced
- ½cupwhite wine,or stock
- 16ozfresh spinach,washed, long stems removed, chopped
- ¼cupheavy whipping cream
- ¼cuppesto,or more
Instructions
-
Bring a large pot of salted water (add enough salt so that the water tastes salty) to a boil.
-
Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente.
-
While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken.
-
Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, and brown the chicken breasts on both sides over medium-high heat. (Don’t cook all the way through, just browned.)
-
Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
-
Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-
While the onions cook, slice the chicken into strips.
-
Put any pieces that are cooked all the way through in 1 pile, and put the ones that still need a little cooking in another pile.
-
When the onions are just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook for another 1 minute.
-
Add the white wine or stock and boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by ½.
-
Add the spinach and the undercooked pieces of chicken to the pan.
-
Using tongs, turn them over to coat them with the juices in the pan.
-
Continue to cook, turning and stirring often for about 2 minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through.
-
Turn off the heat and add some black pepper, the pile of cooked chicken pieces, and the pesto. Stir to combine.
-
Drain the pasta put it in a large bowl. Add the cream to the sauté pan and stir well to combine.
-
Add the contents of the pan to the bowl with the pasta and mix well.
-
Serve at once.
Recipe Notes
To wash spinach, fill up a clean sink basin with cold water, and let the spinach soak in the water. Move it around a bit to loosen any dirt. Fresh spinach is usually pretty dirty, so there may be a need to do a couple of soakings. Remove the spinach and shake off excess water. Lay the spinach leaves down on a clean towel and pat dry.
Nutrition
- Calories: 372.52kcal
- Fat: 14.93g
- Saturated Fat: 4.21g
- Trans Fat: 0.06g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 5.50g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.91g
- Carbohydrates: 37.12g
- Fiber: 3.16g
- Sugar: 2.32g
- Protein: 19.82g
- Cholesterol: 47.02mg
- Sodium: 477.25mg
- Calcium: 99.76mg
- Potassium: 584.37mg
- Iron: 2.89mg
- Vitamin A: 310.21µg
- Vitamin C: 17.35mg
Was this page helpful?
Have your own special recipe to share? Submit Your Recipe Today!