Armed with my shiny new spinach and feta pesto I needed to try it out on something and of course the first thing that came to mind was pasta but I was looking for something a little more this time. One of the easiest ways to make a pasta a bit more of a meal is to add chicken and I was thinking that some contrasting paprika grilled chicken would go nicely with a spanakopita pesto pasta. I garnished the pasta with some walnuts and feta, mirroring the flavours already in the pesto.
Spinach Pesto Pasta with Paprika Grilled Chicken
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
- 1 pound pasta (I used whole wheat penne) (gluten free for gluten free)
- 1 pound chicken breasts (pounded thin)
- 2 teaspoons paprika (I used hot and smoky)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 batch spinach pesto (aka spanakopita pesto)
- 1/4 cup walnuts (toasted)
- 1/4 cup feta (crumbled)
directions
- Start cooking the pasta as directed on the package.
- Season the chicken with the paprika, salt and pepper.
- Grill the chicken until it is cooked all the way through, about 5-7 minutes per side.
- Drain the pasta, reserving some of the water and toss the pasta with the pesto and the reserved pasta water.
- Slice the chicken, serve it on the pasta and garnish with the walnuts and feta.
Similar Recipes:
Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta with Feta and Kalamata Olives
Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta with Feta and Kalamata Olives
Take a look at the Presto Pasta Nights roundup on The Well-Seasoned Cook.
hhhmmmmmmmmm………… yummy.
Thanks for the menu.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm what a great spring meal!
Great idea to make a pesto with Greek-inspired ingredients! Gorgeous green color too :).
Amazing post Kevin! Everything looks fantastic!
Mmmm. That looks beautiful and delicious!
Wow, all the flavours of spanakopita in a spinach pesto sounds wonderful. I love the addition of the herbs and walnuts. I could just eat this on it's own with a spoon. 🙂 …Susan
I just finished dinner a few hours ago…and this made me hungry again!
Love that spanikopita pesto idea! Sounds so healthy.
Although it is not even 9am, I am drooling over those pictures! What a gorgeous dish!
Cheers,
Rosa
that looks so bful and loved the color..awesome clicks
first time here…u have a lovely space…just started blogging..and love to add u in my list..
ur comments/suggestions r highly appreciated..happy blogging…following u>>>>>>
sanyuktagour(bayes)
http://creativesanyukta.blogspot.com/
Very interesting version of pesto Kevin, I love it 🙂
Spanikopita – DECONSTRUCTED! Love the flavors.
Sounds good, Kevin, but I would skip the chicken. Too much food.
As the Greeks would say OPA!
What a wonderful creation. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Night.
What a clever pesto recipe! I love the alternative to basil and parmesan.
I just happen to have all these ingredients in my fridge at home… That's dinner solved, thanks!
Robyn
I love mixing it up. The basil is almost in – but the fresh spinach is at the markets now – why not play. Love the addition of feta to mimic spanikopita.
wow, I love pasta but never tried to mix it with spinach,this post make me interesting to try it, and I always amaze on how you serve it, and look awsome on the pic!!
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I attempted to make spinach pesto with walnuts a few weeks ago except mine turned into a disaster. Way too much walnuts. Yours sounds amazing though! And I was just thinking about what to make tonight for dinner. I'm thinking that spinach pie could be the ticket.
Stunning dish, Kevin!!
Waw!! I so love the feta, spinach & parsley pesto!!
MMMM,..I bet the paprika spiced rubbed chicken is just perfect with it!
A fantastic meal, best enjoyed with your loved one!
I started using spinach in pesto recently, but never thought of the feta and spanakopita. What a great idea! The chicken sounds amazing as well!
Perfection on a plate Kevin. I love the feta cheese added here.
That pesto looks insanely good!!
I love knowing your thought process when you come up with these fantastic and delicious dishes!
I have an idea. I love brownies and I love Spanakopita. I think I'll try to make brownies which have the flavors of Spanakopita. Then I can start my food blog!
LOL. Just kidding.
Looks rich and delicious. Love the chicken. We don't get ramps out west. Would love to try some.
Stunning bowl of green, Kevin. What a lovely presentation of a platter of generosity. This is the kind of meal you want friends to gather around table for.
Thank for joining in PPN this week!
OMG… anyone who can make pesto wtih only 3 tbsp of olive oil is a genius!
i love your site!
Spanakopita pesto!! Brilliant.
Yum! I decreased the olive oil a bit and just used parsley instead of all three. But we also stirred it into rice, since we'd already had plenty of pasta during the week. It's really good added to rice as well, even though it makes for a bright green rice!
This looks wonderful! I am going to have to try this one for usre since we love pasta! I would like to try it with our favorite pasta that is made from Kamut Wheat since it is so healthy – and I will have to eliminate the walnuts due to our son's nut allergy. Other than this – I think it's good to go! TY!
This looks really good… like the combination of grilled chicken with pesto-pasta
Kevin, I really don't know how you do it. TO be honest. This is the second recipe ive made from your blog and all of them have been awesome. And on top of that this one was really healthy. The changes i made to the recipe were very minor:
Used Smoked Paprika instead of regular paprika.
Put the zest from the lemon in the pesto (why waist the zest right?).
For those who are wondering how much lemon to put in the pesto…i used 1/2 of a lemon and it was perfect.
At the very end i drizzled some roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil that i made yesterday.
This was soooo delicious. Great Job!!
I luv your recipes and the photgraphs are to drool for.
I love the pesto! It really looks so delicious! You made it perfectly.
this was SO GOOD! I had a huge bag of spinach i needed to use…the spinach pesto was super yummy and that paprika chicken was a revelation! (I used smoked because I prefer it) All the flavors were awesome together!
Made this dish tonight. My wife, son & I thought it was great, especially the Pesto. Would only add 3-4 tablespoons of pasta water to the pesto.