Making some Pesto Pasta
Courtesy of Costco’s Pesto Sauce ;)
So something I have loved making this year is Pesto Pasta. It can be plant-based, chicken-based, or sausage-based. It is so delicious and filling! I love the flavor, and it is overall a very very high quality meal. I would usually pair this with some nice salad, or some nice veggies on the side. This was usually a lunch dish, and it was mostly made over the summer, but over the last month, I made it a few more times since I missed it so much!
As a disclaimer, I am just stating my technique; I do not know how authentic, correct, or disgusting it is. It just makes decent edible food with decent flavors, that I am somewhat a big fan of since it is something I almost never eaten before 2020.
Ingredients I use
So to start, I am not a good cooker, I am very lazy, so I end up using Costco’s Basil Pesto sauce. It is quite pricy, at around $14 CAD for a tub/bottle, but overall I love the dish so much that it is worth it. It uses pine nuts, basil, and the usual high quality ingredients that is expected in this Italian dish.
Though maybe they should have used more olive oil instead of vegetable oil, but whatever.
Warning though, this only lasts for like a month, so make sure once it is opened, try to use it up before it gets bad! Also, I typically use around 1/4–1/3 of the bottle for each meal time (good amount for a meal for my family and I, plus around one leftover portion).
I typically use organic chicken breast (from Costco as well) since it is nice and easy, as well as whole wheat pasta (though sometimes I would use regular spiral pasta, noodles, quinoa pasta, chickpea pasta, lentil pasta, etc, etc. Basically any pasta is fine). I prefer pastas that allow for a higher surface area for the sauce to relax on, to maximize the flavor!
Then the usual side ingredients to most meals, such as salt, pepper, onion, garlic is used. I also use some red pepper flakes and on occasion, pecorino romano (parmesan cheese, the nice aged block one). And I guess whatever ingredients for whatever else you are eating this with (veggies, salad, garlic bread, etc.).
Prep Ingredients
I would start prepping by mincing some garlic, and dicing some onion and setting aside. Then I would chop the chicken breast into like small chunks; bite-sized but not too small. I then season it with a little bit of pepper and a tiny tiny bit of salt (I am not a big fan of seasoning unfortunately; good thing the sauce is very flavorful).
Then I guess prep other food for the meal that is outside of the pasta dish.
Cooking
Cooking the pasta or noodles are straightforward, so I basically do it; no explanation really needed). I sometimes save the pasta water, but just a tiny tiny bit since the sauce is not really a ‘wet’ sauce.
I first pan fry the chicken pieces on the wok. Takes a few minutes for both sides. I guess I brown it? But there’s so many pieces so it is not a super nice fry, but still a nice cook. I guess I put some garlic and onion (not too much) beforehand to get it all nice and stuff.
Then I remove it (though I might leave the chicken in sometimes and skip this) and add some garlic and onion in, letting it fry a bit, then re-add the chicken in. Then I turn the stove to low, or almost the minimum pretty much.
I then scoop in some of the pesto sauce using a spoon. A good amount each time, like a bunch of spoons! I mix it slightly around the chicken and onion/garlic stuff. Then I add in all the noodles. It’s quite overwhelming since everything is basically in the wok now!
I then mix around everything in the wok, trying to cover all the noodles with a nice amount of the pesto sauce. I still scoop maybe a few more spoonfuls out and add them to the noodles, but overall at the end, the mixture should be very nice, not super green, but a nice hint of green over all the food in the wok. I also pretty much turn off the stove at this point, since pesto sauce is not really meant to be heated too much; just warmed.
I then add some red pepper flakes to add a hint of spice and additional flavor! I might also add some more black pepper since it is very nice.
The dish is then ready! Scoop some out and enjoy!
Alternatively, sometimes I think another option is just have the heated noodles and meat, and it is basically self serve, where the pesto sauce is in a bowl and everyone just gets as much as they want, then it is a good manual mix on the spot, right before it is eaten. This is nicer for people who like a varying amount of sauce.
I sometimes garnish with some parmesan cheese at the end since it adds a very nice nutty flavor!
Overall, I eat a few plates of this dish every time. It is super delicious (though the sauce makes everything a bit oily), and the nutrition is not too bad, when there is a nice amount of veggies on the side! Very nourishing, and the flavor is very very enjoyable. < 3