Pesto di Pasta con Amici

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For the love of all things Italian: Pesto Di Pasta Con Amici

If I had to choose one type of food to eat forever, it would be Italian. I can’t be the only one who feels that way. One night I saw what Italian-related ingredients I had on hand, and started putting this dish together. It probably breaks the rules of expert Italian food chefs, but if I’m wrong, I don’t want to be right. Hello, Pesto di Pasta con Amici. 

Somehow my husband and I eventually coined this concoction “Pesto Pasta with Friends” because it needed a name that encapsulated the numerous ingredients, and the fact that it was shared with friends at our home. Isn’t that the essence of Italian eating anyway? To share a delicious meal with others and enjoy being together? Pesto di Pasta con Amici means exactly that: Pesto Pasta with Friends.

The ingredients in this dish seem to compliment one another. Speaking loudly and quietly at times. There’s a lot going on. Like a lively gathering. Some might argue there are too many ingredients. You can leave some out if they are not on hand, and the dish would still be good. But I like all the ingredients. So they are all included.

The meats for Pesto di Pasta con Amici

Bacon is where it all begins. What better place to start? I chopped the layered bacon slices with kitchen shears. If you like including bacon in dishes, please check out my Arabesque Spinach Salad or Bacon Quiche Muffins. Another related post is How to Cook Bacon in an Oven. 

Separate the pieces out before frying. You want to fry them in a very large skillet. There will be many ingredients joining the party. If you don’t have a very large skillet, do not worry. Fry up what you need to, then later add it to the stock pot with the cooked pasta for mixing a large quantity.

Add the onion and garlic once the bacon is cooked. You don’t necessarily have to drain the bacon fat. The more fat, the better. It’s needed for the onion, garlic, and chicken to cook. Don’t forget the mushrooms here too!

Speaking of chicken…

For this particular time of cooking, all I had were frozen chicken breasts, so I cooked them in the instant pot. I recommend cooking 1½ pounds frozen chicken in 1 cup of water on manual setting at 12 minutes. Once the beeper goes off,  wait five minutes as it naturally releases, then perform a quick release. Chop up the cooked chicken to be added later.

But if you had fresh unfrozen chicken breasts, then slice them up and cook with the onion and garlic in the bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper if you like.

The pasta for Pesto di Pasta Con Amici

Side note on pasta. I like to use angel hair pasta for the thin texture. My preference is to break the pasta into fourths for easier tossing later. Doing so on a rimmed baking sheet helps decrease run-away noodles.

To help sufficiently coat the noodles with pesto, toss them together after the noodles are cooked and drained. This ensures efficient mixing of the sauce and pasta before adding in all the other lovely ingredients.

Once the bacon, onion, garlic and chicken are cooked, add in the cooked angel hair pesto pasta, chopped sun dried tomatoes for sweetness, some whole Kalamata olives, and drained juicy artichoke hearts. Toss, toss and toss. There you are. Pesto pasta with friends is ready.

A little bit of everything Italian. This dish also makes great leftovers. I’ve even been known to eat it cold, like a pasta salad. Just as good!

The Recipe

Pesto Pasta con Amici from nickelplatekitchen.com

April 4, 2019

Servings: 8-10

Prep: 30 min

Cook: 30 min

Total: 1 hr

Difficulty: Easy

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This pesto pasta dish pulls many flavors together to create a hearty Italian dish to enjoy together.

By: Elizabeth Newman

Ingredients

• 1 pound angel hair pasta, broken up before boiling
• 1/2 pound bacon, sliced
• 2 lbs chicken, sliced
• 1 to 2 6.7 oz jar of pre-made pesto
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 package of 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 12 oz jar of artichoke hearts, drained
• 3/4 cup whole Kalamata olives
• 1 small jar sun dried tomatoes, drained and sliced

Directions

• Step 1 Start water boiling for angel hair pasta. Break up pasta before boiling. Cook according to package.
• Step 2 Slice bacon, separate, fry over medium heat in a large frying pan until cooked through. Leave most of the bacon grease in the pan.
• Step 3 Add chopped onion, garlic, mushrooms and sliced chicken breasts. Stir occasionally until chicken is fully cooked, about 8 minutes.
• Step 4 Once pasta is cooked and drained, return to pot. Add one jar pesto sauce and stir until pasta is evenly coated with the pesto.
• Step 5 Add pasta to the large frying pan. Stir everything together until well coated with pesto.
• Step 6 Add to the pan the artichokes, olives, and chopped sun dried tomatoes. Stir to thoroughly coat ingredients with pesto. Add more pesto if needed. Keep on low heat, stirring occasionally until ingredients are heated through.

Did you try this recipe?

I’d love to see a picture of your Pesto di Pasta con Amici. Share it on Instagram @nickelplatekitchen or #nickelplatekitchen. Happy cooking!