Some weeks ago I prepare a little too much pesto sauce, perhaps you remember it, the recipe was titled “Spicy Cilantro and Cotija Pesto Sauce“. Well, since I knew we couldn’t possibly eat all of that homemade pesto I put the leftover sauce in an ice cube tray and froze it. Once the pesto cubes were frozen solid I removed them from the ice tray and stored inside Ziploc bags in the freezer. (The method is the same one I use for my leftover curry paste.) I had completely forgotten about them until I found them this morning when I was getting some berries for a smoothie. It was a really nice surprise as it took the guess work out of planning tonight’s dinner.
If you’ve never frozen pesto sauce before you’ll be thrilled to know that it freezes quite well. In fact, I highly suggest it because that time it stays frozen allows the different ingredients to come together nicely. Of course you could also just store the pesto in the refrigerator for a few days after you make it and achieve the same thing. Either way, I highly suggest both methods and the sauce will taste just as fresh but with a more intense flavour.
This pasta recipe is wonderful with corn pasta but also delicious on regular wheat noodles. If you have never tasted corn pasta I recommend you give it a taste, it’s fantastic. The noodles are 100% corn so perfect for those on a gluten-free diet — and it also cooks in like half the time of wheat pastas! I purchase mine from the health food store but some grocery stores also carry it in their gluten free isle, alternatively you can always find it on Amazon.com.
- one package of gluten free corn pasta ( it weighs 1 lb or 454 grams)
- two large skinless and boneless chicken breasts, sliced into bite-size pieces
- 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil
- 6 tablespoons of Spicy Cilantro and Cotija Pesto Sauce from this recipe (adjust to taste)
- Boil a pot of salted water with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil. While you wait for the water to boil, sauté the chicken until it is cooked through, and if you need to remove it from the heat after it is cooked through so that you can pay attention to the pasta. Once the water is boiling add the pasta and cook according to package instructions. It will be for about 10 minutes, but you need to keep a close eye on the noodles as they cook fast and will also fall apart. Drain and set aside. Once the pasta is drained and the chicken is cooked through add the pesto sauce to the chicken and mix it into it, sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the cooked corn pasta and very gently mix the sauce and chicken into the noodles. (These noodles are fragile and will break, so you want to be as gently as possible.)
- Serve with some crusty baguette, extra parmesan cheese, and a green side salad if desired.
That’s it, super easy and quick too. I hope you make the pesto sauce and this meal and enjoy it as much as we do.
Mouthwatering! My kind of pasta dish.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you Rosa!
You can never go wrong with this combo. Looks amazing and oh so fresh.
I couldn’t agree more. Thanks Ash!
Love pesto, and really like it combined with pasta. Such a great meal, isn’t it? Yours looks spectacular — thanks.
Thank you John!
Hi Nancy!! Wow this recipe looks amazing! This Spicy Cotija pesto sauce matches perfectly with the chicken and the pasta!! Sadly we will have to replace the Cotija cheese with Parmesan, since we don’t have it in Greece. We hope the result will be similar. Panos & Mirella :)
Don’t worry the parmesan cheese will work just fine with the other ingredients. Thank you both and enjoy the pasta and pesto!
Oh yes! Definitely chicken, pasta and pesto makes a wonderful dish!
Thank you Medeja!
yes! this looks perfect! i have so much basil growing in the garden and hardly know what to do with it…
Pesto is the perfect for using up extra basil — though my recipe calls for cilantro, but I think basil would also be great! Enjoy Anna!
Winner, Winner, Chicken dinner! I love that you made this with pesto…. great recipe. :)
Now I’m going to be saying that next time I make chicken for dinner! :)