Chicken pesto pasta

So I just made a totally yummy Chicken pasta that I thought I would share.

1 pound wheat farfalle pasta
1 pound chicken breast
1/3 cup olive oil
about 4 ounces (or a good bunch) Arugula (reserve 20 leaves for garnish)
1/2 cup packed italian parsley
1/2 cup good, freshly grated parmesean reggiano
1/2 cup chopped and lightly toasted walnuts
4 cloves garlic
1 pint grape tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
1/3 cup (or to taste) feta cheese
1/2 tsp salt
25 grinds pepper (to taste)


Cook chicken breast in olive oil (salted and peppered). We don't have a grill right now, so I just do this on the stove top. Put aside and let cool.

Turn oven to 350 degrees and toast chopped walnuts for about 5 minutes, or until they get a bit crisper.

Boil salted water. Add pasta. Cook about 10 minutes. Strain, lightly toss with olive oil and put in fridge.

Lightly chop garlic. Combine parmesean, garlic, chopped walnuts, arugula, parsley, salt and pepper in Cuisinart. Blend til finely mixed (6 seconds?). Turn on Cuisinart again and slowly start drizzling good tasty olive oil to create a pesto. Add more olive oil if needed to reach desired consistency. You don't want it to clump together, but become a smooth creamy texture. No more than 1/2 cup. Set aside pesto.

slice tomatoes in half and roughly chop olives. Slice chicken into 1 inch by half inch chunks.

Once pasta is cooled, add pesto. I didn't use ALL of the pesto made, but you can add the amount you like, to taste. Once mixed in, add feta, tomatoes, olives and chicken. Add 20ish arugula leaves for garnish throughout.

Enjoy!