Balsamic Pesto Pasta

I am always looking for new pasta recipes. We love pasta in our house and I for one get tired of always having spaghetti and Alfredo so I when I came across this I just knew I needed to try this out. Now the rest of my family are a red or white sauce kind of bunch but they even liked this pasta and gave it the thumbs up to appear again on our table. So yeah for me!!! If you need a new way to make pasta this is simple and so tasty.  We served it with salad and the homemade French bread I posted just a couple of days ago!! Yum!!

Balsamic Pesto Pasta

1 cup pesto

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

2 chicken breasts, cut in to bite size pieces

1 lb box penne or rotini

3 cups fresh tomatoes, diced

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

4 T. fresh basil, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

 

Place the first 6 ingredients in a Ziploc bag and marinate all day or at least 2 hours in the fridge. After you marinate the chicken all day. Take out of fridge, dump all contents into a skillet and cook with 1 T. of olive oil until cooked through. Cook pasta according to package directions. Mix together the tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix the cooked chicken, cooked pasta, and the tomato mixture well. Add 1 cup of the cheese and mix well. Place in a greased 9x13 inch pan. Cover with remaining cheese and Bake at 325 degrees until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly around the edges. About 20 minutes.

 

Recipe Source: adapted from Thirty Handmade Days