Penne with Chicken and Arugula Pesto

When Lindsay asked me to add some recipes to the blog I was a little nervous.  I am not a gourmet chef, far from it.  Most of the cooking I do has to appeal to the tongues of babes and a husband who likes no added salt, low in carbs and fat but complains when it tastes likes kid food!  But this recipe (I came up with it as I went along as I had a big bag of Arugula that was about to go!) that I made a few days ago didn’t follow any of his silly rules and no surprise, it tasted really good!

I started by making Arugula pesto:

Arugula (1 bag)

Olive oil

Parmesan cheese

Crushed garlic, about 1 clove (it came from a jar, who am I kidding, 1 teaspoon!)

Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in food processor, except oil, pulse while adding oil until the consistency you want.  You could add roasted pine nuts, we don’t here due to allergies

To make the rest of the dish:

2 chicken breasts, diced

1/4 cup chicken broth

0.5 lb mushrooms (white button or crimini) sliced

Fire roasted red pepers, diced small (I use the ones in a jar from TJ’s)

1/3 cup of Arugula pesto

1/3 cup half n half

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain nearly a whole bag of penne (I used whole wheat).  Then saute mushrooms with some olive oil.  Remove mushrooms from pan and add chicken, brown just a little and then add stock.  Simmer for about 5 minutes or so and then add pasta, pesto, cooked mushrooms and roasted red peppers.  Stir through and heat, lastly add half n half, stir through, heat (you can add S&P if it needs it) and serve. I topped with yummy shaved parmesan!

Note:  With the cup measurements for the pesto and the half n half, they may be a little off as I am kinda guessing!  I did start with a little pesto and kept adding until it looked like enough, same with half n half.

Enjoy!

Maegan