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Jan
19
2012
Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta with Bacon and Veggies
Tags: chicken, Dinner, pasta, pesto, vegetables
Over Christmas break, I made this fun pasta dinner at my mom’s house. It’s creamy, simple and full of great flavor the whole family will love.
I love Barilla’s line of mini pasta shapes. I can’t find them everywhere, but I can always count on finding them in AZ. I chose the cute mini farfalle for my recipe.
Let’s take a look…
Here’s your line-up. Pretty simple right? You can even use up any vegetable you might have laying around the fridge.
Here are those mini farfalle. Cook them in boiling water until al dente. Love that they are done in 7 minutes 
Perfect-o!
I used two large chicken breasts and cooked them in a cast iron skillet. I browned both sides on the stove top then finished it off in the oven for about 20 more minutes. They were perfectly juicy.
Yum
Time to start the veggies. I used onions, red bell peppers and mushrooms here.
I also tossed in some broccoli florets.
I have an abnormal fetish with these large Butter Beans from Bush’s. However, if you can’t get a hold of them, any white bean will do.
Is there anything better than pesto and Parmesan? I think not.
A little cream please
Time to add the pesto and pasta. It’s almost done!
Bacon and chicken time!
Here you have a simple any night dinner that the whole family will gobble right up. Enjoy!
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large chicken breasts lightly seasoned with salt and pepper
1 pound mini bowtie pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 cups broccoli florets
15 ounce can large butter beans or other white bean
15 ounce can reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup prepared basil pesto
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon pieces
1. Heat oil in a medium cast iron skillet over medium heat. Place lightly seasoned chicken breast into hot skillet and cook for about 4 minutes per side, until lightly golden brown. Transfer skillet to a preheated 350 degree oven and continue baking for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Let chicken rest for a good 15 minutes.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, run under cold water and set aside.
3. Place oil into a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic and broccoli for 10 minutes. Stir in beans, chicken broth, cream, pesto and Parmesan cheese. Stir until well combined and reduce heat to low. Stir in pasta, bacon crumbles and chicken. Simmer until ready to serve. Note: Stir pasta every 5 minutes if not serving right away. It thickens quick and needs stirred. Add additional broth, cream or milk to loosen sauce.
Makes 8 servings
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Have a great day! Come back soon!
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This looks good but your latest instagram feed with those RAINBOW noodles…now those were simply adorable. Can’t wait for that recipe
I make something similar but have never thought about putting beans in there – it’s such a good idea!
This sounds delicious! And I love that you use the lazy girl’s garlic like me (the already peeled garlic)
Sounds delicious. great idea
Love the addition of the beans!!!
heaven!
HEavenly!
This is great Jenny! I love seeing some of your meal ideas.
Oh my goodness! This looks so delicious! Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
I’ve needed some good chicken recipes. This one is definitely bookmarked for the future!
Look over there! (bev sneaks in the back door and steals the leftovers.)
That sounds delicious!!!
Looks so delicious! Mmm…with some whole wheat pasta and homemade pesto this would be ridiculously delicious!!
You show bacon in your step by step, but I don’t see it on the ingredient list. How much did you use? And did you just add w/ chicken? Thanks! Looks delish
Great recipe – also missing the oven temp in the final directions. I started making this tonight and improvised – but would love to get the full instructions!
My kids love those mini pasta shapes from Barilla’s. I can’t find them everywhere too but I know one place that carries them so I always pick up a few boxes when I’m there. I have a spare box in the pantry and this looks like the perfect dish to whip up with it. This is delicious!
As I kept scrolling down, this recipe kept getting better and better! Pasta, broccoli, chicken, bacon, pesto, parmesan?! I almost had a stroke by the end of this post! Yummy!! And, your photos are gorgeous, as usual! xoxo
I love the piccolini pasta! It’s just so stinkin’ cute!
what an amazing recipe – - this pasta combines some of my favourite ingredients, pesto – chicken – broccoli and pasta. Sounds like perfection to me
Love that you’ve added beans to this – looks amazing!
I knew I would like it here the minute I saw those butter beans. We had them at lead once a week growing up with greens and cornbread.
Pam
This looks so delicious and fresh! I have to try this for lunch next week, I love that it has veggies too! Thanks for sharing this!
Love seeing a pasta recipe on here. This looks great! And healthy, which is something I need in a pasta recipe. Love this, Jenny!
This looks so delicious. I’ve never even thought to use butter beans in a pasta dish before, but I could imagine it would taste delicious – especially with a little pesto and parm.
Amazing recipe and its looks absolutely stunning. I love pasta its so easy to prepare and there are so many variations of pasta. Great explanation of the recipe it easy to follow and step by step.
I have recently written a book “Quick & Easy Chicken Pasta Recipes”. If you are interested contact be and I will be more than glad to give you a review copy.
REGARDS,
SARAH MARIO.
(sarahmario101 @gmail.com)
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