This is a tasty, Italian dinner main dish or hearty pasta salad side dish. Chicken Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes also contains toasted pine nuts which give it a yummy nutty flavor ready. This EASY pasta dish is ready in 20 minutes with only 6 ingredients! It’s perfect for parties because it can be served hot or cold and offers a vegetarian option. Learn how to toast pine nuts easily.
Pasta is one of my favorite comfort foods. I could eat it daily like the Italians do but, I try to watch my carbs so I can eat cookies. LOL If I didn’t love sweets, I’m convinced I’d be 20 lbs lighter. If only I was 6 inches taller, I’d be two sizes smaller!
I love finding easy pasta dishes to make for parties and this is certainly one of them. My Italian cousin (who lives in Italy) introduced me to this yummy dish. Her recipe doesn’t include chicken but, I thought it made a great protein addition to this pasta dish. It becomes an easy, yummy dinner.
I’ll show you how to toast pine nuts below. It’s quick and easy but, you need to stay near the stove so they don’t burn. They can burn quickly so, don’t leave to get a drink or feed your dog.
Doesn’t it look delicious? See all of our delicious Authentic Italian recipes.
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Chicken Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Making pesto is easy but, sometimes you just want to get dinner on the table a.s.a.p. So, I keep a jar of pesto in my pantry. It comes in handy when I a want to do minimal cooking and clean up.
If you’re not familiar with pine nuts, this is what they look like:
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You can use them to make pesto sauce too so, you can definitely use pine nuts for more than just this pasta recipe.
How do you use pesto in a jar?
Jarred pesto is ready-to-use. Add it to hot, drained pasta and that’s it! The hot pasta will heat up the pesto. Plus, you can control how much pesto you want in your pasta so, it’s a great pantry item to keep on hand.
What do you eat with pesto pasta?
Chicken, whether grilled or roasted, is great main dish to eat with pesto pasta but, so is Italian sausage. Those are the two meats that I think taste best alongside pesto pasta.
What to do with sun dried tomatoes?
You may have leftover sun dried tomatoes after making this recipe. Spread goat cheese or cream cheese on on Italian bread and top that with sun dried tomatoes (from oil.) You can also mix it into cream cheese or Marscapone cheese with chopped fresh rosemary for a tasty appetizer.
How to Toast Pine Nuts
- First, put pine nuts in a small frying pan on med heat.
- Next, wait until they turn brown as shown in image below. They can easily burn so, don’t walk away from heat.
Toasted Pine Nuts
- Then, stir pine nuts and remove from heat when they start to brown.
For microwave and oven toasting methods, click here.
Get the 6 ingredients you need and make this delicious pasta dish for dinner. It’s a great way to use up leftover grilled chicken or shredded chicken and feed your family a wholesome meal. Plus, it makes a versatile pasta salad for parties because you can omit the chicken to make it vegetarian! Make one one bowl with chicken and one without. It’s simply delicious!
I took this recipe to Meal Plan Monday & Weekend Potluck.
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Chicken Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 oz pesto
- 16 oz medium shells pasta or penne or ziti
- 4 oz sun dried tomatoes in oil
- 2 tbsp pine nuts
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken breast
Instructions
- First, cook pasta according to package directions and drain.
- Meanwhile, chop the sun dried tomatoes into small pieces.
- Then, toast pine nuts. Add them to a small frying pan on med heat. They can easily burn so, don't walk away from heat. Stir pine nuts and remove from heat when they start to brown.
- Next, chop toasted pine nuts.
- Last, add pesto, chicken, sun dried tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, and grated Parmesan cheese to the drained, cooked pasta and combine.
