This short fat pasta grabs the rich creamy sauce and the pesto adds a lot of flavor and freshness. The perfect pasta to pair with a classic grilled chicken breast. This has been a family favorite of ours for many many years!
Basil Pesto
Ingredients
2 cups basil, packed
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more to drizzle over finished pesto
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. Toast pine nuts in small frying pan over medium low heat for 5 to 8 minutes or until nuts have been slightly browned.
2. Place garlic in small food processor and give it a whirl until minced. Add basil, pine nuts, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Add olive oil and process until thoroughly mixed. Add Parmesan cheese and process just until blended.
3. Place into container and drizzle with olive oil until completely covered. This will prevent the pesto from browning. Can be refrigerated for a few days.
Ingredients
For the Chicken
4 chicken cutlets
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
drizzle of olive oil
For the Broccolini
8 oz broccolini
1/2 tbsp olive oil
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 lemon, cut in two
For the Pasta
8 oz. mezzi rigatoni or regular rigatoni
1/2 cup pesto (recipe follows)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Directions
1. Heat grill to medium high and put on a large pot of water to come to a boil for pasta.
2. Once water comes to a boil, add salt to make the water salty like the sea. This will add flavor to the pasta. Cook pasta to al dente usually about two minutes short of the required time.
3. While pasta cooks, add cream to a large pan and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. The cream will thicken a bit. Turn off heat and add pesto and stir. When pasta is al dente, drain and add pasta to sauce and gently stir and set aside.
4. Sprinkle oregano, salt and pepper over cutlets. Drizzle with olive oil. Grill over medium high heat for 3 or 4 minutes a side, depending on thickness of cutlets.
5. Toss broccolini with olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a bowl. Add to grill along with cut lemon. Grill for two minutes a side until crisp tender. Grill lemon alongside of broccolini. This will make it very juicy.
6. After chicken and broccolini come off grill, squeeze the lemon over both and serve alongside creamy pesto pasta.
