Saturday, November 20, 2010

Pasta with Sundried Tomato Pesto


Pasta with Sundried Tomato Pesto
Makes 4 Servings
Recipe adapted from Cookinglight.com

8 oz. pasta shape of your choice
1 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (100 grams)
12 basil leaves
2 tbsp slivered almonds (14 grams)
2 tbsp reduced fat Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 oz. fat-free feta cheese, divided
12 oz. chicken, diced
1 tsp olive oil
Salt to taste (for chicken)
Optional: additional basil, diced for garnish

Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain through a sieve over a bowl, reserving ¾ cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pan. While pasta cooks, add chicken, olive oil and salt to a large pan. Cook chicken until no longer pink, about 4-6 minutes. While pasta and chicken are cooking, place tomatoes and next 6 ingredients (through black pepper) in a food processor; process until finely chopped. Once pasta is done, add the reserved ¾ cup cooking liquid and pulse until smooth. Add pasta and pesto to pan with chicken. Stir well. Serve and sprinkle with feta and additional basil as garnish.

Nutritional Information: 448 calories, 53 carbs, 12 fat grams and 33 protein grams.

Review: Um, glorious! Loved it! It originally didn’t call for chicken but I wanted more protein, and I also added the olive oil for the chicken, and used ¾ cup cooking liquid rather than 1 cup (1cup seemed like too much – would have made it soupy to me). I've made this one for company and think it's very fancy and flavorful - I love the addition of almond slivers, it really gives it a nice thickness that makes it taste heavy and filling!

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