Julie's Pesto Penne

I was trying to figure out what the HECK I was going to make for dinner the other night- so I was sifting through my pantry and found my yummy organic penne pasta I got at Costco a few months ago! My brain started swirling with WHAT I was going to make, that my whole family would love (minus my picky 4 year old, but I'll tell you about that ANOTHER day), and pasta is ALWAYS a fav in my house, so I decided to go on a whim and play around in the kitchen a bit!

This is what dinner became-


OH YES- A new favorite in the Wagner household! I cant WAIT to start adding to the recipe and become a bit more daring with it! Here is the recipe below- and btw, you can make this in 30 minutes!

Here is what you need:



Now, you can use whatever brand of chicken broth, cheese, pesto and penne you want, but I personally like to use these brands, since they have such a rich taste to them. BTW- the fresh pesto from Costco is AMAZING! I use it on sandwiches with fresh mozzorella, turkey and a tomato!


DIRECTIONS

If you have a Pampered Chef Deep Dish covered baker (I have 2, I couldnt live without mine)- use it! If not, you can cook it stovetop or in any kind of deep microwavable dish.

1. Empty packet of Penne and the box of Chicken broth in the dish. Make sure the penne is evened out so most of it is covered by the chicken broth.

2. Cover and microwave for 15 minutes. Check the pasta, if still not fully cooked, cover and cook up to 10 more minutes. Make sure the pasta is covered by the chicken broth!!! When its finished, there should only be a bit of chicken broth left at the bottom. The noodles should have soaked up most of the broth.

3. Mix in 1/2 cup to 1 cup of FRESH pesto sauce. The amount is up to you- whether you like pesto or LOVE pesto! Mix well by folding in the pesto, not stirring.

4. Add desired amount of fresh shredded cheese of your choice and enjoy!

5. I added tomatoes to mine, throwing them in after the first time I checked my pasta. My pasta took about 25 minutes to cook total.

Feel free to add chicken or sausage! ENJOY!