Chicken pesto macaroni eh? I know that sounds like a weird combination, I was going to call it 4 ingredient chicken macaroni but added a few more things in there ….. either way, this is deliciously good and hope you give it a go putting your own spin on it. It’s fast, delicious and very easy to make, so have a look and get inspired!
First up you’ll need two pans, one with water in for your pasta to cook and a frying pan for your chicken.
Warm the frying pan with a little olive oil and place in 2 chicken breasts, cooking them well for a good 8-10 minutes either side, or until fully browned.
Add in the cherry tomatoes, that have been halved and cook for a few minutes to soften and release some flavour. Then spoon in the creme fraiche and pesto – if you do not have lemon pesto and using standard basil pesto just add the juice of a lemon here too.
Let this simmer away with a good seasoning of pepper and salt and add in a handful of fresh basil leaves. Cook for 3-4 minutes, to gently bubble the flavours together.
Meanwhile in the other saucepan cook the macaroni to package instructions, in the video, fresh pasta is used so it only takes 5 minutes, if you are using dry pasta, you will probably need to start a little earlier to allow for the cooking time.
With the pasta cooked, drain it off and dump it into the frying pan with the chicken, stirring well to coat the pesto sauce in the pasta.
Serve up in a deep dish with a pile of the macaroni mix, a portion of chicken sat on top, some more seasoning, a grating of fresh parmesan, then some extra freshly torn basil just to finish – delicious, so good!