Recipe

Paulettes Penne Chicken Pesto With Pine Nuts And Artichoke Hearts Recipe

	Pollymotzko / All my dishes 9 months, 2 weeks ago This is an easy recipe although I think almost everything I make is easy. The mix of the flavors are exceptional I think and you can whip this up and impress someone on the spur of the moment. Prep:10m Cook:20m Servings:4	Pollymotzko
	paulettes pollys pasta penne easy

Does this look good? Yeah! / Nope

Fans

juels

terryr

lacrenshaw

Ingredients

Penne Pasta

Pesto-homemade or prepared

Trader Joe’s sun dried tomato pesto-which is awesome! You’ll find tons of uses for it!

Marinated Artichoke Hearts, drained with a colander.

(You can save the liquid for making marinated green beans if you like!)

Pine nuts

Chicken breasts or thighs-whichever is cheaper or whichever one you like.

(Chefs are starting to go for the thigh meat because it is moister and more flavorful and also usually cheaper. I always liked it better. It is way more juicy and holds the marinades and rubs that I make and use better.)

Directions

There are no proportions to this dish just a nice blank canvas, if you will, to add to the proportions you desire. When I make it I make about 2 cups of cooked pasta or more if I’m having company. I cook it til al dente, drain the pasta and add the pesto. I toss carefully with a wooden spoon so as not to break up the pasta or damage it. (I usually don’t heat the pesto as the Reggiano Parmesan can burn if heated too high. The heat from the pasta is usually enough to heat it up as long as it is served immediately.)

After you add the pesto of your choice, take either a can of Marinated Artichoke Hearts that have been drained or if you’re lucky to live around a ware house store they sell huge quart size of them for about the same price that you can go in on another person with and split the big jar up!

Take however much chicken thigh meat you want and reserve it. I cut the chicken into small 1 inch pieces with some very sharp scissors from Germany that I only use for doing that task-then they’re washed in the dishwasher.

I usually add a little garlic or some kind of marinade to the chicken here before I cook it on a cast iron skillet on medium high heat. I have an Emerille La Gasse Cast Iron grill pan that I love that works great for grilling chicken and meats but you can cook it any way you like…using any marinade really. Variations on this can be endless!

The assembly of this dish is layered in these steps:

1. Pasta

2. Pesto sauce

3. Artichoke Hearts

4. Cooked chicken pieces

5. Pine nuts to garnish & texture

6. Optional shredded fresh Parmesan cheese for garnishing & flavor

Tips: (Every kitchen should have a good, sharp pair of kitchen shears used to only cut meat etc…)

In future issues of Paulette’s Springboard of Ideas I’ll tell you about some great breads I used to make for Christmas and wait til you see some of the designs that can be achieved with a simple pair of kitchen shears in the breads!

Paulettemotzko@yahoo.com

Hope you enjoy!

Whoever tries this drop me a line and say hello!

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Comments

juels 9 months, 2 weeks ago said:
This sounds wonderful! Pesto, chicken, pine nuts and artichokes...mmmm!

lacrenshaw 9 months, 2 weeks ago said:
What a lovely and tummy-pleasing dish, polly. You're very good at this Group Recipes stuff. My thank and my 5.
Lorraine

pollymotzko 9 months, 2 weeks ago said:
Hey guys!
I'm glad you liked my new dish. I've made this lots of times varying the kind of sauce I use and I sometimes vary the pasta. I really like penne in that it holds up so well to cooking and various types of sauces. It has a nice "bite" to it.
Thanks for the positive feedback. I really apprecite it!

I am pondering going into the catering business or at least being a baker or something in an existing one.....food for thought....

Polly Motzko

terryr 3 months ago said:
Is it ok if I leave the pine nuts out?
TerryR

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