Friday, April 26, 2013

Food Friday - Pesto Chicken and Tortillini

Pesto Chicken and Tortillini
adapted from Live Laugh Love! Cookbook

This is the first recipe I've tried from my "new" Cookbook that I bought like 2 years ago.  How sad is that?  Over all this was a  good recipe plus it was so easy to throw together - even on a Sunday night when I hate to cook!  Probably my one "complaint" with this recipe is that the chicken and the pasta taste the same so you really need a couple of different sides to go with this - my husband and I talked about it at dinner and decided that roasted carrots (and even zucchini) would go great with this because the carrots would add color and a totally different flavor.  I also would suggest just some good french bread with this since the pesto is a strong flavor.  The original recipe called for two containers of prepared pesto.  Folks, that is a lot of pesto - YIKES.  I actually cut many things in half for this recipe so I'm going to share my altered recipe. 

Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips (I cut each of mine into about 4 strips)
1 container prepared pesto
1 package frozen (or refrigerated) tortellini
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Place chicken in baking dish and spread some pesto on each piece using about 1/2 the container.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheese and place back in the oven until the cheese is melted.  While chicken is baking, cook tortellini according to package directions, then drain.  Mix drained pasta with the rest of the pesto (or to taste) and add remaining cheese. Serve together.