Pesto Chicken Tortellini

Let me introduce you to one of our staple meals in our household:  

Tortellini with Pesto, Chicken, and Tomatoes.

Here are some of the reasons I love it and make it so often-

1.) Pasta filled with cheese.

2.) Pesto and chicken (two of my favorite things!)

3.) Pasta filled with cheese.

4.) Literally only 5 ingredients!

5.) Pasta filled with cheese.

6.) It takes MAYBE 20 minutes to make, from start to finish!

7.) Pasta filled with cheese.

Do you see what I'm saying here?

How could we not all fall in love with a dish that is quick, easy, delicious and made with PASTA FILLED WITH CHEESE?

Much like the Southwest Stuffed Sweet Potatoes I posted last month, this "recipe" feels a lot less like an actual recipe and just more like assembly instructions, because of how little actual cooking there is involved.

Nonetheless, here's what you'll need:

Chicken breast, tortellini, pesto, parmesan, cherry tomatoes, and enthusiasm for carbs.

1.) Start by boiling water to make your tortellini.

I prefer the cheese tortellini from the frozen section, but different types of tortellini (like chicken and mushroom) are also kept in the refrigerated section around the deli items of grocery stores. 

2.) Cut up your chicken into 1 inch pieces, and sauté it in a hot skillet over medium-high heat with some olive oil and garlic.

Cook it up until golden, around 10-15 minutes, and add a little salt, pepper, and paprika at the end.

3.) Add your desired amount cherry tomatoes (cut in half), and then turn off the heat.

**This is also where you could throw in some spinach to add some extra veggies and color to the dish**

4.) Add the pesto* to your drained tortellini.

*You can either get jarred pesto in the aisle with the pasta and marinara, or you can find fresh pesto in the same refrigerated section that you find the fresh tortellini in. It's a bit more pricey, but if you get it at Sam's Club or Costco, like I do, you get a better deal and it's ohhhh so good.

5.) Add the chicken and tomatoes to the pesto tortellini and grate in as much parmesan as your heart desires.

Boom. Done.

When something is this easy and scrumptious, and my family shovels down bowls of it like it's going out of style... it becomes a regular go-to for busy weekday nights.

Feel free to make it even easier for yourself by just using rotisserie chicken!

Either way, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do :)

Pesto Chicken Tortellini

Ingredients

-2 chicken breasts

-1 package cheese tortellini 

-A handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

-1/4-1/2 cup basil pesto

-grated parmesan

Directions

1.) Boil water, and cook tortellini according to package directions, drain.

2.) Cut up chicken into 1 inch pieces, sauté in pan with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and paprika.

3.) Add tomatoes (and spinach) and remove from heat.

4.) Add desired amount of pesto to tortellini, gently stir, then add chicken and tomatoes.

5.) Serve with grated parmesan.