Chicken Spaghetti with Pesto and Parmesan

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Cooked pasta

1. 1
   Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   ⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 2
   Reserve cup of the cooking water before draining.

   ⚙ Saving the cooking waterLadleorMeasuring cup

   💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.
3. 3
   Drain.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 4
   Cut the chicken breast into thin strips and season with salt and black pepper.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 5
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pan and fry the chicken strips 5–6 minutes, until golden. Remove and set aside.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
3. 6
   Add the garlic and fry 1 minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 7
   Take the skillet off the heat, add the pasta and the pesto with a little of the cooking water, and toss until the sauce coats the pasta.

   Frying pan

   💡Don't heat pesto on the stove: heat turns the basil black. The heat of the pasta and the cooking water is enough.
5. 8
   Return the chicken strips, sprinkle the Parmesan and basil leaves on top and serve immediately.