Basilicious Caprese Chicken with Pesto Pasta | Recipe

A variation on Chicken Caprese that leaves out the balsamico and instead goes heavily on the basil pesto. This is a great recipe if you made a batch of pesto but don’t want to stick to only pesto and pasta for all of it.

For two you’ll need two chicken breasts, 2-4 thick slices of Mozzarella cheese, Basil Pesto; either pre-made or according to this recipe, 1 tomato, black olives, cherry tomatoes, penne pasta, olive oil, fresh basil, salt and black pepper.

Start heating the water for the pasta.

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides. Cut 2-4 slices from the tomato and 2-4 slices from the mozzarella, large enough to cover a sizeable part of the chicken.

Heat some olive oil in a skillet on medium-high and sear the chicken breasts on both sides until golden brown. Fry the tomato slices as well and place them on top of the chicken.

Place a lid on the skillet and move it to a burner on medium-low and cook until the chicken is done, approximately 10-12 minutes. When there’s roughly 3 minutes of cooking time left, place the slices of mozzarella on the chicken and let cook until the cheese is melted, but not completely evaporated.

When done, remove the skillet from the heat and let the chicken rest for a minute.

While the chicken is baking, halve the cherry tomatoes and olives and cook the penne pasta al dente. How much pasta? Adjust the amounts to the level of hunger.

When the pasta is done, drain it and mix the pasta, tomatoes and olives together. Add a generous amount of Basil Pesto and toss until everything is covered. Add salt and pepper if needed.

To serve, place the chicken on plates, garnish with a few fresh basil leaves, add a portion of the pasta as well as some Basil Pesto on the side, for extra dipping.

List of ingredients