I'm always looking for recipes that my kids would like and also recipes that my husband & I like that my kids will eat as well. This is not always easy. My son dislikes almost all fruits and vegetables and my husband is very picky about certain ones as well. When it comes to dinner, I feel like I can't win sometimes. Anyway I have an easy recipe for Pesto Chicken & Pasta that I like to make & that my family likes as well. It's slightly grown-up for my baby so, I have a way to convert it to a baby-friendly one as well. Luckily, my youngest, baby Emily seems to love almost everything she eats so far! She just might be my saving grace in this family yet!
For the Pesto sauce, I usually just buy a pre-made one from the refrigerated section of the grocery store but, I have made my own as well. The homemade one is great if you have the time (Basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese, & pine nuts all pureed up together).
The ingredients for the dinner are:
2 or 3 medium sized chicken breasts (if they're thick, pound them or slice them in half to make thinner)
1/4 to 1/3 cup of pesto sauce (divided in 2 portions)
3 cups of pasta (penne or bowtie works best)
1/4 cup of mozzerella cheese (or more if you want)
*All amounts are approximate -feel free to adjust the amounts to your family size
Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish or pan with cooking spray. Spread a small amount of pesto sauce in the spots where you will place chicken breasts. Place chicken breasts in pan & put more pesto sauce on top of chicken breasts and then sprinkle mozzerella cheese over tops of each.
Cover w/foil & bake at 375 for 25-30 min. Remover foil cover for last 5 min. & broil on low to brown the tops slightly. Meanwhile boil your noodles and toss in a seperate bowl with remaining pesto sauce. Serve chicken breast on top of noodles for each serving. For young kids, you have to cut the chicken up for them. Some people like to sprinkle grated parmeson on top as well. You can also mix some of the grated mozzerella in the pasta bowl too if you like.
This is a quick, easy and tasty meal. A salad goes nicely on the side & rolls or garlic bread do too. You can also add small grape or cherry tomatoes to the pasta as well.
Now, for babies (11 mos. & up), I just puree up a portion of the pesto chicken w/a little extra mozzerella and use it in a couple of different ways. I mix it with a tiny pasta like "ditalini" (a tiny tube like pasta) and let the baby eat it w/her hands or sometimes I spread it like a paste on thin bread or make a quesadilla with it. I take half of a tortilla (I use whole wheat but, flour or corn is fine too) and spread the mixture on half of the tortilla half & fold it over & microwave it for about 30 seconds. Then I cut it w/a pizza cutter into bite size pieces. Voila! There you have it! Sometimes I even make sandwiches out of leftovers. I make a panini w/the chicken & a tomato slice and a slice of fresh mozzerella (if I have it on hand) and I spread a littl extra pesto on inside the bread. Bon Appetit!
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