Little Tummy Yummies: Pasta with Pea Pesto and Chicken

I am loving Jennifer Seinfield's "Doubly Delicious" cookbook; it has some very interesting recipes! I will be the first to tell you peas are one of my least favorite vegetables, but I eat them when I need to (only after drinking a lot to get them down!). This recipe for Pasta with Pea Pesto and Chicken caught my attention because I always welcome a way to get peas into my diet AND it somewhat similar to our "Buttered" Noodles post which I love. Also, traditional pesto is my favorite thing ever and this is exactly how you make traditional pesto except for peas substituting the basil. Below you will find the recipe with some of my minor alterations.

Ingredients (pesto):

2 cups frozen peas (be sure to read the label to ensure there is no added salt)
1/2 cup grated 100% Parmesan
1/2 pine nuts (these can be expensive but are essential for a good pesto)
2 medium to large garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients (chicken):

10-12 boneless skinless chicken tenderloins (I use this vs chicken breasts because I freeze mine and these thaw much faster and cook faster)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil

Ingredients (pasta)

8-10 oz whole wheat spiral pasta (fun and easy for little ones to pick up)

Steps:

Pesto: Blanch peas (boil water, add frozen peas, cook for one minute, shock in cold water bath). Combine peas, Parmesan, pine nuts, pressed garlic, olive oil, water and salt in a food processor or a chopper. Blend until well combined and a you have a sauce that is the consistency of toothpaste. If you use a chopper, do it in two batches.
Chicken: Combine garlic powder, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle thawed chicken with spices on both sides. Heat oil in skillet, add seasoned chicken. Cook until browned, flip and cook until other side browns. Be sure the chicken is cooked through. Chop chicken to the size appropriate for your little one.
Pasta: Cook according to package directions. I always cook extra noodles in cause I have too much sauce.
Assembly: Toss pasta, pesto and chicken together and serve warm/immediately.

Yield: 6-8 servings depending on serving sizes. Looks like it is serving closer to 8 for us.

Serve: Serve warm. Cut chicken into sizes appropriate for your little one. We served with a side salad and bread (Little Joy did not have salad, hehe).

Storage: Refrigerator for several days. I froze some left over pesto for future use and I plan to keep it frozen for up to 1-2 months.

Timing: Since this has nuts in it, I would wait until 12 months. If you family has a history of ANY nut allergies, please consult with your doctor before serving this dish. The chicken is very tender, so even if your little one does not have molars, they should be able to eat the chicken--just use your judgement on the size of the pieces.

Tips: You can make the pesto a few hours before the rest of the meal if needed; that is what I did. If so, refrigerate the pesto in the meantime. Making it ahead is great when you have a kids running around because you can make the pesto during naptime and the rest of the recipe is very quick. Even though my pesto was refrigerated, the pasta was so warm, when tossed the dish was just the right temperature! Also, I cooked about 8 oz of pasta and I felt like there was too much pesto, so just use your judgement on the amount of pasta to cook.

Difficulty: 2 out of 5; this is an easy and surprising yummy recipe. It only took about 20 minutes to make the entire thing from start to finish.

Epicutie Rating: Yummy in the Tummy--see right side of page for descriptions.

At first I thought Little Joy was not liking this dish, but she eventually dug in. I also try to test the food on her as a leftover the next couple of days and she seemed to like it more and more. She is going through a funny stage where she does not want to independently feed herself so it was hard to tell if she just did not like it or she was being funny about self-feeding vs. me helping her.

Parental Rating: We liked it as well. I loved it, my husband just liked it. This is a health food thing so we did not expect something fatty and dripping with buttery goodness. We wont have it once a week, but it is on the short list for sure.