Pesto Chicken over Spaghetti Squash
The other day I ran to the store with a long list of stuff for the week’s groceries. I wanted to make the spinach bread recipe from the Primal Blueprint Cookbook. It called for basil and pine nuts so I picked those up. However, when I got home and went to make the bread, I realized that spinach was probably necessary for spinach bread. And though I always have frozen spinach on hand, I would need fresh for this. I planned to run back to the store to get some.
Yeah, that never happened. Welcome to my life.
So come Thursday, I’m moving stuff around in the fridge looking for something and I saw the giant tub of basil I had bought. Some of the leaves were looking as wilted as Larry King and I HATE throwing food away. I make a point to try and figure out something – anything – to do rather than waste it. Cut it up, freeze it, make a salad, something.
But I remembered the pine nuts so I decided to make pesto. One of my favorite ways to eat pesto used to be with chicken or shrimp tossed with pasta and olive oil. But just because I don’t eat pasta anymore doesn’t mean I can’t have spaghetti!
Pesto Chicken Over Spaghetti Squash
For the pesto
- 2 c. fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 c. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 c. pine nuts
- 1/4-1/2 c. olive oil
- 2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
—
- 1-2 small chicken breasts, cut up
- spaghetti squash cooked
What you do:
- In a food processor (or a blender would work as well), put in the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice, and cheese.
- Turn on and through the lid, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until it reaches the correct consistency: thick but smooth.
- Cook diced chicken in a saucepan with some salt, pepper, and olive oil.
- Add 1-2 tbsp of pesto and toss until chicken is coated.
- Serve over cooked spaghetti squash. (If you’ve never cooked one: simply cut in half, scoop seeds and microwave for 6-8 minutes, depending on size or until the strands come out easily and are soft.)
- Add extra pesto to the squash if you want.
- Freeze any leftover pesto!
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OMG this sounds so delicious! what time should i come over for dinner?
I have a GIGANTIC basil plant, and I’ve been planning to make pesto when it finally gets too cold. This looks like a great recipe!
I will definitely be making this! Oh, and I’ve never made the spinach bread from PB with fresh spinach (always cooked up some frozen). It always turned out well but fresh would be better. I’m glad you mentioned it. I haven’t made it in months.
Oh, try the walnut brownies from there. If you make it and refrigerate it, they are like cold little bites of awesome.
Gah – the spaghetti squash… is it actually delicious? I have realized I need to cut down my carbs so pasta is out, but of course the family loves pesto chicken and noodles. This looks like a nice compromise where I can also have some tasty pesto. I’ll give it a try :O
I love spaghetti squash personally, but it is not pasta of course. It’s firmer and crunchier and has a fairly bland taste which is why i think it works great with pestos, meat sauces, etc. Much like anything else, when you decide to give up certain things you can choose to find replacements for those things. If you keep an open mind and realize that no, it is not going to taste like Grandma Mauricio’s Sunday pasta and taste it and enjoy it for what it is, then I think a lot more doors are opened up. I mean, it’s worth a try, right? If you don’t like it, at least you know. And if you DO like it, you have another option on the days you want to skip the pasta.
I love spaghetti squash with a passion – and have topped it with everything to get my children to eat it. They like pesto, so maybe this is my trick!
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I saw this back in November, and am glad I bookmarked it. We are on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet right now for my husband. I made the pesto without the parmesan, and this recipe still turned out great. It is a nice alternative to our normal meat, potatoes, vegetable dinner.
We made this for dinner the other night. SO yummy!