Chicken Pesto Florentine

I came across this wonderful pasta recipe from Simply Recipe when I was searching for recipes that would help me use up the basil that I have in my garden. This recipe calls for fresh pesto and many other ingredients that I love. I followed the recipe and everyone at the dinner table was very happy with this dish. I like creamy pastas but I LOVE this one for the fact that it is not too creamy that it makes you feel guilty after eating, and it also has veggies that I like. I will make this again and again!!


Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta Recipe


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 6-8.

We've used fresh spinach in this recipe, but you could easily use frozen. Just defrost and drain.


Ingredients

12-16 ounces dried short pasta (bowties, penne, gemelli, etc)
4 chicken breast cutlets (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds total)
Salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped, about 1 cup
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine or stock
8-16 ounces of fresh spinach*, washed, long stems removed and chopped
Black pepper
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup (or more) pesto, see here for recipe

*To wash spinach, fill up a clean sink basin with cold water and let the spinach soak in the water. Move it around a bit to loosen any dirt. Fresh spinach is usually pretty dirty, so you may need to do a couple of soakings. Remove the spinach and shake off excess water. Lay the spinach leaves down on a clean towel and pat dry.


Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water (add enough salt so that the water tastes salty) to a boil. Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente.















While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and brown the chicken breasts on both sides over medium-high heat. They don't need to be cooked all the way through, just browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.











Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the onions cook, slice the chicken into strips. Put any pieces that are cooked all the way through in one pile, and put the ones that still need a little cooking in another pile.








When the onions are just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the white wine or stock and boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by half.











Add the spinach and the undercooked pieces of chicken to the pan. Using tongs, turn them over to coat them with the juices in the pan. Continue to cook, turning and stirring often, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through, about 2 minutes.
Turn off the heat and add some black pepper, the pile of cooked chicken pieces and the pesto. Stir to combine. Drain the pasta put it in a large bowl. Add the cream to the saute pan and stir well to combine. Add the contents of the pan to the bowl with the pasta and mix well. Serve at once.