Wooo, what a doozy of an evening last night! We lost our internet. Still have no idea why. We spent over THREE hours trying to troubleshoot and work with Verizon. And ugh. Nothing. No go. Blah. And we’re stuck without internet until Wednesday 😩. So, I’m typing away with a hotspot, hoping that I don’t have any more major snafus!
Unfortunately, my son is having to connect to school through his phone and my husband is attempting to work without internet… The technology age! How stuck we feel when our technology stops working. It actually ended up turning into a nice evening though. Because there was no internet, my son wasn’t itching to run off and play video games with his friends. So, after dinner, we all sat around and played Trivial Pursuit.
Actually, for almost a year now, we’ve been playing several versions of 20 questions at dinner. It keeps us engaged and talking when we feel like we have nothing to talk about because we’re together ALL OF THE TIME!! But, we finally ran out of new topics and were searching for something new to engage us during dinner. So, I bought us the 2016 updated version of Trivial Pursuit Classic Edition, and we’ve been playing that during dinner. So, last night, we just kept the game going for several hours. It was a nice and rare treat, and I’m so glad we took advantage of it rather than just moping about!
Anywho! Chicken Caprese and Pesto Pasta!! Now, pesto pasta is obviously super simple, but it so nicely compliments this chicken Caprese. I LOVE Caprese salads. It is probably my favorite salad followed shortly after by a delicious wedge salad! But, mmmm, Caprese salads. When I was pregnant, I would go to the store and buy a huge bag of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, and then often eat them in one sitting. Granted, I didn’t add basil and balsamic, I just wanted tomatoes and mozz asap!
Caprese salad on top of chicken breast is an awesome combination. And if you want to go lower carb, feel free to swap the pasta out for your favorite low carb veggie! Cauliflower and broccoli are often my easy turn to options. There is some sugar in the balsamic dressing, but I try to keep it at a minimum. It just helps take the bite out of the vinegar.
The chicken is kept super moist by searing it on one side and then popping it in the oven for about ten minutes. And that is what is so awesome about this dish! It cooks in 15 minutes!! Seriously! You cannot get an easier weekday dinner.
For the pasta, sometimes I use homemade pesto, other times store bought pesto. Whichever happens to be convenient. I think I still have five or six bottles of pesto frozen in my freezer from my end of season basil last summer! Have you ever jarred a bunch of homemade pesto with your garden basil? It’s soooo easy to do and lasts a good amount of time in the freezer! Just don’t leave it out at room temperature. You can’t “can” pesto in the same way you can things like tomato sauce, pickles, or jam. But it holds up quite nicely in the freezer.
And that’s it! So simple to make but bursting with so much flavor! Let me know what you think!
Enjoy!
Chicken Caprese with Pesto Pasta
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Italian
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 TBs olive oil
2 large tomatoes, sliced
8 thick slices of fresh mozzarella
handful of fresh basil, chopped
2 TBs balsamic vinegar
1 TB Dijon mustard
½ TB dark brown sugar
4 garlics, minced
Pasta
~8 oz spaghetti
⅓ to ½ cup store bought or homemade pesto
freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Cook the spaghetti according to the package. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop it from cooking.
Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. In a cast iron pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. When hot, swirl to coat the entire pan. Add the chicken and cook for 4 minutes. Flip and immediately place in the oven. Cook for about 9-10 minutes, or until an internal temperature reads 165°F.
Meanwhile, in a small measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and brown sugar. Set aside.
When the chicken is almost ready, toss the pasta with the pesto and heat in the original pot until warmed through over medium heat.
Plate the chicken and top with two slices of mozzarella, the tomatoes, and fresh basil. Drizzle with the balsamic vinegar mix. Plate the pasta and sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan on top.
Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Keywords: chicken Caprese, Caprese, Caprese salad, pesto, pesto pasta, pesto spaghetti, chicken and pesto spaghetti
