6 tomatoesor 1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
1Tbspparsley
1tspbasil
½tspsalt
¼tspblack pepper
¼cupwhite wine or chicken stock
3ouncescrumbled goat cheese
Pesto sauce
2Tbspwalnuts
2clovesgarlic
1 ½cupsfresh basil
½cupfresh parsley
¼cupgrated parmesan cheese
½tspsalt
¼tspblack pepper
¼cupvirgin olive oil
Instructions
Slice the chicken breasts into strips about ¼” wide.
Combine the chicken breasts and the pesto sauce in the mixing bowl and leave to marinate.
Boil the ziti in the stock pot until al dente (do not overcook as the noodles will continue to soften during the rest of the cooking process)
Drain and put back in the stock pot.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil over medium heat in the saucepan.
Sauté the onions and garlic in the oil until soft and translucent.
Add the tomatoes, parsley, basil, salt and pepper to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes.
Pour the tomato mixture from the saucepan into the pasta in the stock pot and stir.
Heat the stock pot with the tomato and pasta mixture on medium low heat (stirring occasionally) while the chicken is cooking.
Add the marinated chicken to the saucepan that used to have the tomato mixture in it.
Cook until the chicken is almost done (barely pink) about 5 minutes.
Add the white wine to the chicken pan and cook for about 2 minutes, scraping up all of the pesto bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Add the chicken to the tomato/pasta mixture in the stock pot and cook for another 2 minutes to reduce some of the liquid.
Serve with crumbled goat cheese sprinkled on the top. If you're not a big fan of goat cheese, you can skip this step (or use a more traditional cheese like parmesan), but I think the goat cheese adds some zing to the flavor.
Pesto
Chop the walnuts, garlic, basil, parsley, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper in the food processor until blended.
Use a spatula to scrape the bits off the inside of the food processor.
Start the processor running again and slowly drizzle in the olive oil until everything is combined.
Notes
Pots and Utensils:Mixing bowl1 large stock pot1 large saucepanFood processorSpatula