Spinach Tomato Chicken Pasta
I needed a meal that could be thrown together quickly, so I headed over to Google Reader to look at posted I had starred previously. I had all the ingredients to make this recipe so I gave it a shot.
I really liked how it turned out. It was very light and reminded me of summer. Hubby wasn’t crazy about it (probably because I left the cheese out)… But I really enjoyed eating it for lunches the next couple of days.
Spinach Tomato Chicken Pasta (from sweet-savory-southern)2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/3 of a 16 oz box of fettuccine (most any pasta would work) – I used angel hair
1 1/2 cups baby spinach, washed
1 small tomato, cut into chunks
1/2 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese – I left this out
salt and pepper
Begin boiling the water for the pasta. Add pasta to salted water and boil for about 8 min or until al dente. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl with spinach. (The heat from the pasta will wilt the spinach down a little.)
Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium/high heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to the pan. Cook for about 10 min or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the skillet and add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan along with the butter.
When the butter is melted, add the chopped garlic. Saute for 2-3 min to cook the garlic. Pour garlic butter over the pasta and spinach and toss in the chicken and chopped tomato. Toss to combine all the ingredients. Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
*a squirt of lemon juice right before serving would be good on this, too
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
This combines 2 of my husband’s loves – shrimp and cilantro! Love the ice cube trick too!
Yum, I love shrimp! Hadn’t thought to flavor it with pesto. Warm crusty bread would be yummy with it!
~ingrid
OH WOW so simple and so beautiful! I need to make myself some pesto cubes for moments like these 🙂
What a delicious and easy dinner! I’m lucky if I’m home by 8:30, so I completely understand needing quick recipes! I’ll have to try the frozen pesto trick.
i just made my first batch of ice cube pesto from our basil forest. neil panics every time i make pesto. he needs verification that i have not used up too much basil. if i use 10% of what is in the garden, then we are in the safety zone. let it grow back, use another 10%. at the end of the season, we will have 9000 cubes of pesto in the freezer and neil will be happy. totally jealous of your new stove, btw. i want a griddle!
I love the frozen pesto concept! I have a lot of basil, but there are only two of us in my house and we can only eat so much. I will have to try this. The shrimp looks great.
this looks great, and it really can’t get much easier
Hi there! Love this idea. Great job!
I was wondering where I can find pesto? Also, do you have any ideas for sides that would be good with this? I’m not familiar with pesto’s flavor and I want to surprise my husband with something 🙂 Thanks!
Jori – I make my own pesto using this recipe.