Chicken pesto pasta salad
Spirals of pasta tossed with basil pesto, shredded barbecue chicken, juicy cherry tomatoes, spinach and toasted pine nuts. Warm or cold, it packs well.
- Prep
- 6 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Serves
- 4
- Per serve
- 610 kcal
Ingredients
Method
Boil a full kettle and pour it into a large saucepan over high heat. Add a big pinch of salt, then the pasta, and cook until just tender, stirring once or twice.
While the pasta cooks, toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat, shaking often, until golden. Tip them straight out of the pan so they don't scorch.
Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and halve the tomatoes. In a large bowl, stir together the pesto, yoghurt and lemon juice.
Drain the pasta and rinse it briefly under cold water so it doesn't keep cooking and stays a little warm. Shake off as much water as you can.
Add the pasta, chicken, tomatoes, spinach and half the parmesan to the bowl and toss until everything is coated. Season, then scatter with the pine nuts, the rest of the parmesan and basil leaves.
Tips
- Packing it for later? Keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days and stir through an extra spoon of pesto before eating, as the pasta soaks it up.
- Swap the chicken for a drained can of cannellini beans to make it vegetarian, and check your pesto and parmesan are made without animal rennet.
