Chicken Pesto Penne

Soooo for some reason tonight's dinner was a more Summer-based meal, rather than a "it snowed 2 inches this morning" kind of meal. But, I had a hankering, so I defrosted some of my frozen pesto and a couple chicken breasts, picked up some fresh mozzarella, and voila! Dinner.

Sautéed two chicken breasts in evoo, salt, thyme, and a crushed clove of garlic in the oil.

Brought water to a boil, heavily salted, and tossed in the penne (same time as chicken.) (Note the waft of steam on the right. Arty.)

While everything is sizzling/simmering away, I put a spoonful or two of the pesto into the bottom of a bowl. Tear up the fresh mozzarella and toss in. Sprinkle with some Pecorino Romano (cuz fresh mozz needs salt!).  When the pasta is just about done, ladle in some pasta water and stir. (Do not drown bowl.)

Toss the pasta in with the pesto/mozz mix. Dice up the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and toss in as well.

Top with more Pecorino. Enjoy! (This is great for summer since it's just a quick pan-sear and water boiling 12 min. Minimal add-age of heat to your kitchen. And tasty at room temp.)

I'm sure someone like Rachael Ray would say "you could make this with whole wheat pasta and bump up the fiber!" but then you'd be eating whole wheat pasta, and I really dislike whole wheat pasta. When I want pasta, I want your standard semolina pasta. If I wanted to be healthy, I'd be eating salmon.