Chicken Penne With Spinach, Ricotta & Basil Pesto

I love chicken & pasta dishes.  They are a great combination and go so well with a wide range of sauces to accompany the meal.  For this dish, a wonderful spinach and basil pesto sauce provides the real tangy flavour.

The chicken and penne are a great combination and perfect base for this dish.  The real flavour to this meal comes from the wonderful pesto that coats the chicken and pasta.  The pesto is an amazing blend of spinach, garlic, basil, parmesan, olive oil, ricotta and pine nuts.  The pesto provides a rich creamy burst of flavour to this meal and is further enhanced by a sprinkling of additional parmesan prior to serving.  A very tasty pasta dish!

This is a great quick and easy meal that can be prepared and made in about 30 minutes.  The pesto sauce is also easy to make.  The only ‘out of the ordinary’ step is the blanching of the spinach to try and get the most flavour for the pesto.  It will still be a great flavoured pesto even if you skip this step.

Leftovers for this meal can be easily frozen and kept for a day when you just don’t have time to spend in the kitchen whipping up an evening meal.

Print Recipe

Chicken Penne With Spinach, Ricotta & Basil Pesto

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 3 Chicken Fillets breast fillets cut into bite size pieces
• 350 g Penne Pasta
• 200 g Baby Spinach
• 1 clove Garlic crushed
• 1 tbsp Pine Nuts
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 200 g Ricotta Cheese
• 1/4 cup Basil Pesto
• Salt to season
• Pepper to season
• 1 bowl Iced Water

Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 15 minutes Servings people Ingredients 3 Chicken Fillets breast fillets cut into bite size pieces 350 g Penne Pasta 200 g Baby Spinach 1 clove Garlic crushed 1 tbsp Pine Nuts 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated 3 tbsp Olive Oil 200 g Ricotta Cheese 1/4 cup Basil Pesto Salt to season Pepper to season 1 bowl Iced Water

Instructions

1. Cook penne pasta according to packet instructions.
2. Cook chicken in a frying pan over medium high heat until browned. Set aside and keep warm
3. Add water to a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Add spinach to saucepan and boil for about 1 minute.
5. Using a clotted spoon, remove spinach from saucepan and place into a bowl of iced water. This process of boiling and then placing in iced water will blanch the spinach.
6. Drain spinach from iced water. I also spin the spinach in a food spinner to remove any excess water, however don't get too concerned if you don't have a food spinner, just try to remove as much water as you can.
7. Once drained, roughly chop the spinach.
8. In a blender, add spinach, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, oilive oil, salt, pepper, ricotta cheese & basil pesto. Blend until a smooth puree is produced.
9. Drain the penne and add back to saucepan, add chicken and pesto puree and mix to coat both the chicken and pasta with the pesto.
10. Serve and garnish with extra parmesan and pine nuts.