Creamy Pesto & Peas Bowtie Pasta with Chicken
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This has been a wonderful week of recipe experimentation, but I must say, this is one that we absolutely over the top scarfed down. My kids ate everything, pasta, peas, chicken & all & asked for MORE! That means it was a huge success! But I have a little secret about this dish, well a secret ingredient. Want to know what it is?
Shirley J Whisk Bliss is a universal cooking base similar to the bechamel mother sauce. So think: sauces, soups, gravies, etc. It’s so creamy & amazingly easy to make. 1 part whisk bliss to 4 parts water! Heat to a boil & that is it! I have got another recipe using whisk bliss posting later, so stay tuned for that. And we have even used this as the base sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks with the addition of some chicken bouillon & spices. I think it would be great in my Chicken Pot Pie Crumble too! See, very versatile!
This Creamy Pesto & Peas Bowtie Pasta with Chicken was superb! Al dente pasta, creamy pesto sauce, crunchy peas & tender chicken combined into one amazing dish. It’s amazing as leftovers the next day as well & we are totally making this again next week because it’s that good. Try it! (Don’t forget to enter the Shirley J giveaway going on this week!)
Creamy Pesto & Peas Bowtie Pasta with Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts
- favorite chicken seasoning blend (I used Montreal chicken seasoning)
- 6-8 oz bowtie pasta
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup Shirley J Whisk Bliss
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 Tbsp store-bought pesto
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a skillet. Season chicken breasts & cook on medium-high heat, covered with a lid for 4 minutes on each side. Check doneness with a thermometer or cook until juices run clear. Keep warm.
- Meanwhile, boil water & cook bowtie pasta according to directions on the package, adding the frozen peas the last minute of cooking. (I boiled mine for 8 minutes & then added the peas for an additional minute.) Drain & set aside.
- In a saucepan combine Shirley J Whisk Bliss & water. Whisk until boiling, add cheese & pesto; stir until combined & thick. This doesn't take longer than 5 minutes.
- Pour sauce over pasta/pea mixture. Stir to coat. Top pasta with slices of chicken & a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Recipe Notes
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8 Comments on “Creamy Pesto & Peas Bowtie Pasta with Chicken”
I love pasta dishes like this! You made me hungry now! Looks so delicious, simple yet it probably tastes amazing. You can never go wrong with pasta and chicken!
This looks so good!! I’m all about pasta. That Whisk Bliss is awesome!
Love pesto pastas! What a quick and easy weeknight meal!
Yumm.. This looks so good! just yumm!!!
I need to try this! I need to stop using cream soups as much, what a great substitute!
I need to try this. It looks so good!
What if I wanted to try this recipe but didn’t have the whisk bliss? Is there a substitute? I’m not a good cook by any stretch of the imagination so I know I would buy the whisk bliss and only use it once since I don’t have enough creativity to use it in other recipes 🙂 sad, but true! Haha
Hey Kathryn! So what you’re going to do is make a white sauce. You would do 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup flour to form a roux. Cook it for 1 minute so the flour is fragrant (that way it won’t taste raw). Then whisk in 2 cups of milk. Bring it to a boil, whisking constantly and wait for it to thicken. Then remove the pan from the heat and add the parmesan cheese and pesto. The whisk bliss and water makes it easier, but more people have the other ingredients on hand. I hope you enjoy this recipe!