Pesto Pasta with Poached Chicken

To go with the Mushroom Bundles I made some pasta with pesto sauce and vegetables and poached chicken. I finally found some wagonwheel pasta. I have been looking for it for ages. It has been pretty elusive.


I found the inspiration for my pasta on Food.com. It used to be Recipezaar.com.

True to my usual lack of discipline I only used the recipe as a basis of what I actually did. Here’s my version of this pasta.

Pesto Pasta with Poached Chicken

2 c Wagonwheel Pasta, uncooked
1 lb Chicken Breast. I use boneless, skinless
1/2 c White Wine
1 c Fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 c Pine Nuts, toasted
1/4 c Olive Oil
1 c Bell Pepper, chopped. I used a package of baby bell peppers with red, orange, and yellow and sliced them into rings
1 c Broccoli Florettes
1 Tomato, chopped

Cook pasta as directed.

When the pasta is cooking poach the chicken in about a tablespoon of olive oil and white wine. I put it in the pan, put the lid on and leave it for 10-15 minutes.

While the chicken cooks puree the basil and pine nuts in a food processor. Slowly drizzle the olive oil over the mixture until it forms the desired pesto consistency.

When the chicken is cooked through cut it into 1/2 to 1 inch pieces and return to the pan. Add the pesto, peppers, broccoli and tomato. Mix well. Add the pasta, mix and garnish with the remaining pine nuts.