Laura Barajas
I first made this recipe on Halloween because I was trying to make a spooky green sauce to go on top of some black and white bow tie pasta I had found. Originally I had added a few drops of green food coloring to make it vibrant, but my son loved the pasta and asked me to keep making it. It’s been a couple of years now and he’s still asking me for it.
You don’t have to make this with chicken, I’ve also made this without and it’s a great side dish that way. I try to always keep both jars of sauce and a box of the pasta in the pantry so that I can make this whenever the mood strikes.
I included measurements in the ingredient list so that you can still make this if you can’t find these jar sizes, or simply prefer to make your own sauce.
If you are in a hurry, I usually just grab the 8-ounce jar of pesto sauce, and the roughly 16 ounce jar of Alfredo, plus a box of the bow-tie shaped pasta. Chicken is usually just a rotisserie chicken. Lately I’ve loved getting it from Costco where you can get a 3lb bag of chicken that’s already been taken off the bird for you. For the cheese I usually use Parmesan but Asiago is good, and I’ve used Mozzarella as well.
This is one of those basic recipes that can be altered any which way, and often is because it’s one we eat at least once a month or so.
Bruce’s Pesto Alfredo with Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound farfalle bow-tie pasta
- 1 cup pesto sauce
- 2 cups Alfredo sauce
- 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan
- Salt as needed
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Stir in a generous amount of salt, then add the pasta. Give it a stir to ensure that none of the pieces are sticking together. Cook according to package directions, then drain.
- Return the pasta to the pot, then add the pesto sauce. Mix well so that the oil from the pesto thoroughly coats the pasta. Place over medium-low heat if using jarred sauce so that it will warm up and not make the pasta cold.
- Add the Alfredo sauce then mix well. Add shredded chicken and cheese then serve.
