Pesto Chicken With Rigatoni
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 6-8 people
For pesto
- 4 cups/75g/2.6ozs. basil leaves, almost a bunch (no stems)
- 150g/5ozs. cashews, roasted
- 100g/3.5ozs. parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
-
75ml/2.6flozs. extra virgin olive oil
-
Oil for frying
- 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
- 500g/1.1lbs chicken tenderloins (breast will be too dry), cut into small pieces
- 500g/1.1lbs rigatoni pasta
- 3 cups/450g/1lb frozen peas
- Salt and pepper to season
- Parmesan or pecorino cheese for serving
Step 1 - Process the basil, cashews, parmesan, garlic and olive oil together or bash it together with a mortar and pestle. You can make this up to a week ahead. Place in a jar and then cover with a layer of olive oil to prevent discolouration.
Step 2 - Put the pasta on to boil in a large pot of salted boiling water. Then start frying the onion in some oil on medium heat until soft. Add the chicken, in two lots and brown and fry through. The pieces are small so it will only take 4-5 minutes. Add half of the pesto and stir to coat. Set aside.
Step 3 - When the pasta has a minute to go, add the peas and allow to cook for a minute or until peas are cooked through. Drain the pasta and peas reserving a cup of pasta cooking water and cook the pasta and peas with the chicken and the remaining pesto. Add half of the cooking water and return to the heat and stir to coat adding more pasta cooking water if needed Gently toss to coat everything in the pesto. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with some extra cheese on the side.