Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Chicken Pasta Pesto Bake


I'm going to come clean. I take a lot of short cuts in the kitchen. A lot. (Well, maybe not that many, I mean I do cook real food almost daily... but I like to make it easier when I can!) One of my favorite short cuts is to buy a rotisserie chicken, dice it up, and use that for any recipe that calls for cooked chicken. I do this almost weekly. Plus rotisserie chicken just tastes so much better, no? My grocery store sells just the breast too, and since we eat only white meat this makes it perfect for my "cheater" system.

I reached out asking for some easy weeknight meals that I can make ahead now that my son goes to bed earlier and I don't really have time to cook at dinner time due to his bath/bedtime routine. My friend Melissa from I Was Born To Cook reached out to me and sent me several recipes that you'll be seeing soon. One of them was this pasta bake. It's not revolutionary, it's not ground breaking, but it's delicious! And you can put it together ahead of time which is very important these days. I changed it up a bit because I wasn't in the mood for it to be too cheesy, but still it was excellent. Give this a shot- it's perfect for a night when you're short on time.

Source: Adapted from I Was Born To Cook

Ingredients:
1/2 pound pasta, cooked al dente
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped small
2/3 cup pesto
1/2 cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese

Directions:
1- Combine the pasta, chicken, and pesto. Toss until evenly mixed. Pour into a baking dish. Top with the cheese.
2- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

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