FCD: Garden Pesto Pasta with Chicken, Bacon & Roasted Vegetables

Aug 17

2 min read

Serves 2

A fresh, colourful pasta with juicy chicken, crispy bacon and sweet roasted vegetables, all tossed through a homemade pesto made from rescued salad leaves and mellow roasted garlic.

Ingredients

From the Freezer

2 chicken breasts, diced
2 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
2 handfuls salad leaves
1 handful rocket
Small handful basil
1–2 roasted garlic cloves
30g Parmesan, grated
40g sunflower seeds
1 courgette, cut into chunks
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
8–10 cherry tomatoes
Juice of ½ lemon

From the Pantry

150g pasta
4–5 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for roasting
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Roast the vegetables

Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Toss the courgette, pepper and tomatoes with a small drizzle of olive oil and black pepper. Roast for 20–25 minutes, until tender and beginning to caramelise around the edges.

2. Toast the sunflower seeds

Toast the sunflower seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 3–4 minutes, stirring regularly, until lightly golden. Leave to cool slightly.

3. Make the garden pesto

Blitz together the:

Salad leaves
Rocket
Basil
Roasted garlic
Parmesan
Toasted sunflower seeds
Lemon juice

Gradually add 4–5 tbsp olive oil until you have a loose pesto. Season with black pepper and taste. Add a little more lemon if it needs brightening.

4. Cook the bacon and chicken

Fry the bacon until crisp, then remove it from the pan and set aside.

Add the chicken to the same pan and cook in the bacon fat until golden and cooked through. Return the bacon to the pan.

5. Cook the pasta

Meanwhile, cook 150g pasta according to the packet instructions. Before draining, scoop out a mugful of the pasta cooking water.

6. Bring everything together

Add the drained pasta to the chicken and bacon. Stir through the garden pesto, followed by the roasted vegetables. Add the reserved pasta water a splash at a time until the pesto loosens into a silky sauce that coats the pasta.