Orecchiette with Pesto

A while ago I posted a link on what to do with leftover arugula or spinach in your fridge before it goes bad – make pesto! I made that batch and it sat in our freezer for a long while until finally I remembered it was in there and decided to use it up.

During our trip to Italy, we picked up and brought back some authentic pesto sauce and enjoyed it one night with some Orecchiette pasta, bell peppers, and chicken (and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, too, of course). It was so tasty that I decided to replicate it with the homemade pesto sitting in the freezer. Freezing them in an ice cube tray worked wonderfully. I ran a bit of warm water over the bottom to loosen them, and then they simply dropped right out. I used a few cubes for dinner that night and the rest went back into the freezer in a zip lock bag for later use.

I was delighted at how simple this dish was to whip up. I already had some pre-cooked and shredded chicken in the fridge, so while the pasta cooked, I sautéed some onions and garlic then added the chicken and pesto. Once the pasta was finished, I drained it, reserving some of the cooking liquid, and added the cooked pasta to the pan with the chicken. Saving the cooking water is a tip I’ve learned to help thicken sauces, but in the case of the pesto sauce, it also helped to make it a bit more ‘saucy’ without watering it down too much.

I’m also loving the little Orecchiette pasta (Italian for Ear, I’ve since learned). Their little shapes hold whatever pasta sauce you serve them with, and are small enough that they would also work well in soups (which of late I've been making more of). I’m not sure if I’ll attempt to make my own fresh version or just continue to buy the packaged ones (which are very good)… my guess is probably the latter.