* Pesto Chicken with Spaghetti (and fresh cherry tomatoes)

I bought a jar of pesto in Aldi the other day, and it's been sitting in the fridge waiting for me to pop it's top and put it into to something ever since. So I made this Pesto Chicken with Spaghetti.

I was hoping it would be a much more vibrant green, but then I suppose you get what you pay for.

You can make your own pesto - I'm sure - and although I am a complete snob when it comes to convenience food as a general rule, when it comes to this sort of thing I currently don't have the inclination to blitz a bunch of basil with the other necessary ingredients to make my own fresh pesto... as soon as I do, you can be sure I'll let you know in the form of a recipe.

You can almost guarantee that I'll be a complete convert to fresh pesto only, but until then - the jarred variety will do.

I'm afraid I will never, ever, ever... ever... be a fresh mayonnaise convert. It takes too long and I never like the end result anywhere near as much as I like the stuff from a jar... preferably Hellmanns and LOTS OF IT. If there were two food stuffs that I would rather die than live without, mayonnaise would be one of them. The other would be cheese. All and any variety. Cheese. Life without cheese would not be life at all.

There's cheese in/on this pasta (of course) and some fresh Tumbling Tom cherry tomatoes from my garden. I fancied something quick and tasty that would use up the tomatoes, some creme fraiche (I KNOW!) and let me pop my pesto top. 

I have popped my pesto top, and it was good.

The end.

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Pesto Chicken with Spaghetti Recipe

Serves 2

Prep time - 5 minutes
Cooking time - 15 minutes
Total time - 20 minutes

You will need
A pot for cooking pasta
A non stck frying pan/skillet

Ingredients
100g dried spaghetti
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion - sliced
250g chicken breast - sliced
2 tbsps pesto
150ml creme fraiche
80g cherry tomatoes - halved
salt and pepper
a few fresh basil leaves (optional)
Shaved/grated Parmesan to garnish

Method

• Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
• While pasta is cooking, make the sauce....
• Heat the oil in the pan and gently soften the onions for 2 - 3 minutes.
• Thrown in the chicken and cook for at least 5 minutes until it's cooked through.
• Stir in the pesto and creme fraiche and gently heat - do not allow to boil as the creme fraiche will split.
• When the pasta is cooked, drain and reserve about a ladle of pasta water.
• Add 3/4 of the cherry tomatoes to the chicken and gently mix them into the sauce.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Stir in the cooked, drained spaghetti.
• If you'd like to loosen the sauce slightly, this is where you add a little (at a time) of the reserved pasta water until it's the consistency you desire.
• Serve scattered with remaining fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and Parmesan.

EAT

ONE YEAR AGO: Sweet 'n' Sour Prawns