Chicken and Spinach Pesto Pasta

Ease: 3/5     Kid-friendliness: 4/5     Taste: 4/5     Ease: 3.5/5

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

I love pine nuts. Love them. And pesto. And my family loves pesto. So I thought I'd try my hand at making some homemade pesto. On the plus side, my husband (my biggest critic), said it tasted better than the jarred stuff (YES!). On the downside, I found it a bit high maintenance. Any recipe that requires me to use a blender, a pot AND a pan, is a lot in my books.

This pesto has a nice mild flavor.

What you'll need:

• garlic, 1 small clove
• 2 Tbsp pine nuts
• 1 1/4 C baby spinach
• 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 C olive oil 
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 lb whole wheat rotini noodles (really, any noodle would work)
• 2 C cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 C feta cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a blender (or food processor), combine the garlic, pine nuts, spinach, and 1/4 C of the parmesan cheese. Chop. You will have to stop a couple of times to scrape down the edges. With the machine still running, gradually add the oil from the hole or spout in the top. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and a couple of grindings of ground pepper.

Add 1 Tbsp of salt to the boiling water. Add the pasta. Cook, stirring occasionally until al dente, according to package directions (~14 minutes). Drain; reserving ~ 1/2 C of the cooking water. Add the chicken to a large serving bowl.

While the pasta is cooking, over medium-high heat, melt the butter or margarine. Add the chicken and cook, until heated through and no longer pink (~ 5-8 minutes). Add the chicken to the serving bowl along with the pesto, feta cheese and remaining 1/4 C parmesan cheese. Toss, adding as much cooking water as required to make a nice consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve!

Adapted fromWilliams-Sonoma The Weeknight Cook: Fresh and Simple Recipes for Good Food Everyday, chicken and arugula pesto pasta recipe.

Pene with Pesto and Potatoes

Ease: 3.5/5     Kid-friendliness: 4/5     Taste: 3/5     Ease: 3.5/5

This is a quick, simple pasta dish. If you like pesto, you'll probably like this. I added a little less pesto than what the recipe called for, thinking my kids might not like such a strong pesto flavor. Turns out they love pesto!

What you'll need:

• 3 white boiling potatoes
• salt
• penne, ziti or other tubular pasta
• 1 C green beans
• 1 C basil pesto
• 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese

Put the potatoes in a medium sized pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until tender (~20 minutes). Drain and let cool. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small cubes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add some salt, and pasta. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente. 5 minutes before the pasta is ready, add the beans (I added the beans 8 minutes before as they were frozen).

Drain the pasta and beans, reserving 1/2 C of the cooking water. In a large serving bowl, mix a few tablespoons of the water with the pesto. Add the potatoes, pasta and beans and toss to combine. Add as much remaining cooking water to achieve a nice consistency for the sauce. Top with parmesan cheese, and serve! Makes 4 servings.