Pesto Chicken Pasta With Asparagus Recipes

ASPARAGUS PESTO PASTA

Steps:

• Cook 1 pound trimmed asparagus in salted boiling water until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to ice water to cool; drain and pat dry, then roughly chop. Puree the asparagus in a food processor with 1 cup fresh parsley, 1/2 cup fresh mint, 1/3 cup toasted unsalted pistachios, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and a few grinds of pepper. Drizzle in 1/3 cup olive oil and puree until smooth. Toss with 1 pound cooked pasta and 3/4 cup parmesan, adding pasta cooking water as needed to loosen.

PESTO CHICKEN PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse and drain.
• Steam or microwave asparagus until tender crisp.
• Drain.
• Combine cooked pasta and asparagus in a large bowl.
• Stir in chicken, tomatoes, onion and olives.
• Gently toss with pesto sauce.
• Serve warm, garnished with cheese.
• Refrigerate leftovers.
• They make a great lunch.

PASTA WITH ASPARAGUS PESTO

Steps:

• In a 6- to 7-quart kettle bring about 5 quarts salted water to a boil for pasta.
• Have ready a bowl of ice water. Trim woody ends from asparagus. Cut asparagus stalks crosswise into 2-inch pieces, reserving tips. In a steamer set over boiling water steam stalks, covered, 4 minutes. Add reserved asparagus tips and steam, covered, until just tender, about 1 minute. Immediately transfer asparagus to ice water to stop cooking. Drain asparagus well in a colander and pat dry.
• In a food processor pulse pine nuts and garlic with salt until finely chopped. Add asparagus and oil and pulse until asparagus is coarsely chopped. Transfer pesto to a large bowl and stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1/3 cup pasta cooking water and drain pasta in a colander. Add pasta and reserved cooking water to pesto, tossing to coat, and season with salt and pepper.

PESTO PASTA WITH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until tender, then stir in chicken. Season with red pepper flakes. Cook until chicken is golden, and cooked through.
• In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and pesto. Toss to coat evenly.

GRILLED CHICKEN & ASPARAGUS PASTA WITH PARSLEY PESTO

Steps:

• For Pesto: Place all ingredients into a food processor and combine thoroughly.
• Set aside.
• (Pesto may be prepared up to 2 days ahead of time and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature and stir before using).
• Grill chicken breasts on barbecue until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.
• Slice and set aside.
• Meanwhile, cook penne in a large pot of water until tender but firm, about 8-10 minutes.
• Drain well.
• Break off tough ends of asparagus.
• Leaving whole, grill spears on barbecue when chicken breasts are almost done, about 5 minutes.
• Remove and cut into 2 inch pieces.
• In a large bowl, toss together pasta, chicken, asparagus, red pepper strips and sun-dried tomatoes.
• Gently stir in pesto and serve immediately.

CHICKEN ASPARAGUS PASTA

Steps:

• Place asparagus in an ungreased 2-qt. baking dish; drizzle with 2 teaspoons oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. , Meanwhile, cook fettuccine according to package directions. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken and garlic in remaining oil until chicken is no longer pink., Stir in the lemon juice, zest and butter; heat through. Remove from the heat. Drain fettuccine; toss with chicken mixture and asparagus. Sprinkle with cheese.

PESTO CHICKEN & ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute chicken in oil until no longer pink. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet, saute asparagus until crisp-tender. Stir in the cream, pesto and pepper until blended. Return chicken to the pan; heat through. Serve with couscous.

LINGUINE WITH ASPARAGUS PESTO

Steps:

• Snap off and discard ends of asparagus. Cut off top two inches of spears and reserve. Chop rest of spears and put in food processor with garlic, processing until very finely minced. With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil. Add 1/2 cup cheese and pulse. Transfer mixture to a bowl, fold in lemon zest, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook about 6 minutes, until not quite al dente. Add asparagus spears to the pot and cook another 1 to 2 minutes, until pasta is al dente.
• Spoon 1/4 cup pasta water into a large skillet. Drain pasta and asparagus tips and add to skillet along with asparagus mixture and lemon juice. Cook over low heat, stirring with tongs, 3 minutes or so, until ingredients are well blended. Check seasonings. Transfer to 4 warm plates, scatter with oregano and serve with extra cheese.

COLORFUL CHICKEN PESTO WITH ASPARAGUS, SUN DRIED TOMATOES AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Stir in the angel hair pasta and return to a boil. Cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain well.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir chicken strips until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
• Pour reserved oil from sun-dried tomatoes into the skillet; cook and stir asparagus in the oil until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add yellow and red bell pepper strips; cook and stir an additional 2 minutes.
• Lightly toss the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and cooked pasta into the skillet with chicken and vegetables; stir in pesto sauce and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes and 2 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese to serve.

CREAMY CHICKEN-ASPARAGUS PASTA

Steps:

• To toast pine nuts, sprinkle in ungreased heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently until nuts begin to brown, then stirring constantly until nuts are light brown. Remove from skillet to plate; set aside to cool.
• Cook and drain noodles as directed on package, adding asparagus during last 3 minutes of cooking time.
• Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, heat Alfredo sauce to boiling. Stir in pesto with whisk. Stir in chicken and salt.
• Reserve 1/4 cup asparagus for garnish. Stir noodles and remaining asparagus into Alfredo-pesto mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until hot. Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and cheese; garnish with tomato and reserved asparagus.

ASPARAGUS PESTO

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Add the asparagus and cook until fully tender but not mushy, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain well, reserving some of the cooking liquid, and let the asparagus cool slightly.
• Transfer the asparagus to a food processor and add the garlic, pine nuts, 2 tablespoons of the oil, Parmesan, a pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid. Process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container if necessary, and gradually add the remaining oil and a bit more of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten if necessary. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste, pulse one last time, and serve over pasta, fish or chicken (or cover and refrigerate for up to a day).

FUSILLI IN CREAMY VEGAN ASPARAGUS PESTO

Steps:

• Process 1 garlic clove in a blender until finely chopped. Add ⅓ cup cashews and 1 Tbsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 ¾ tsp. Morton kosher salt and blend until cashews are finely chopped, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup packed basil leaves and half of asparagus (about 4 oz.) and process until a smooth paste forms, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. With processor running, stream in ⅓ cup olive oil and 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice until combined.
• Cook 12 oz. whole wheat fusilli in a large pot of boiling salted water for 1 minute less than package directions. Add remaining asparagus and cook for 1 minute more. Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking liquid, then drain pasta and asparagus.
• Return pasta and asparagus to pot and add pesto. Toss, adding pasta cooking liquid ¼ cup at a time, until desired texture is achieved. Top each serving with additional basil leaves.