Pesto Rosso Pasta with Chicken

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Mom-approved and deceptively flavorful for something so simple to make! Pasta twirled with a light sauce of red pesto, chicken, and veggies.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Main, Pasta

Cuisine: American, American-Italian

Keyword: pesto rosso pasta, sun-dried tomato pesto pasta

Servings:

Calories: 441kcal

Author: Monica Lensink

Start the veggies. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Chop the zucchini, squash, bell pepper, and onion. Combine on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-35 minutes, until tender and browned on the bottom. Remove from the oven and set aside.
1 small zucchini, 1 small yellow squash, 1 bell pepper, 1/2 small red onion, 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and black pepper
Make the pasta. While the veggies are roasting, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil and add a generous pinch of salt. Stir in the pasta. Cook just to al dente, according to package directions. Scoop out about 1 cup of water before draining off the rest. Set aside the water and return drained pasta to the warm pot.
8-10 ounces pasta
While the pasta is bubbling, make the pesto, if necessary. (See notes.)
Add pesto. Stir 1/2 cup of the pesto into the warm pasta and drizzle in about 1/3 cup of the reserved cooking water. Toss to combine and add more pesto or water as desired.
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
Combine. Stir in chicken and the whole pan of roasted vegetables. (Or set all/some aside to serve separately to choosy kids.)
2-3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
Serve right away with a sprinkle of fresh herbs and Parmesan. Enjoy!
fresh basil or parsley, grated Parmesan

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto: Find and print my full recipe for it here. The basic summary is to blitz the following together in a food processor: 1 and ¼ cups sun-dried tomatoes, 1 and ½ cups fresh basil, 3 cloves garlic, ⅓ cup pine nuts or walnuts, ⅓ cup grated Parmesan, 1 Tbsp. tomato paste, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, ⅛ tsp. pepper, and at least ¼ cup olive oil. This will make more than you need for this pasta recipe; use the rest as a dip, sandwich spread, in soups, sauces, etc.
Veggies: Are fundamentally optional; just skip the whole roasting step if you don’t want to include them in this meal.
Storage: This pasta is best right away, but leftovers will keep in the fridge in any airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove using medium-low heat. I don’t recommend freezing.