Creamy chicken, bacon and pesto pasta
Seared chicken and crisp bacon through a basil pesto cream sauce, tossed with pasta until every piece is coated. Rich enough that a big handful of spinach earns its place.
Notable for: calcium, iron, antioxidants
Ingredients
- 600 gchicken breast, sliced
- 60 gstreaky bacon, chopped
- 400 gtagliatelle
- 50 gbasil pesto
- 220 glow-fat greek yoghurt
- 120 gbaby spinach
- 10 gcrushed garlic
- 40 ggrated parmesan, grated, to finish
- 10 mlolive oil
Method
Put the pasta water on to boil.
Heat the oil in a wide pan and cook the bacon until crisp, about 5 minutes, then lift it out.
Add the chicken to the same pan and cook it through until lightly golden, about 7 minutes, then lift it out with the bacon.
Add the garlic to the pan for 30 seconds, then stir through the cream and pesto and bring to a gentle simmer.
Return the chicken and bacon to the pan and stir through the spinach until it wilts.
Cook the tagliatelle a minute short of the packet time, then finish it in the sauce with a splash of its cooking water, and grate the parmesan over at the table.
Simmer the sauce gently
A hard boil splits a cream and pesto sauce and turns the basil dull and bitter. Keep it at a bare simmer once the cream goes in and it stays smooth and green.
Storage
Keeps three days in the fridge.
Reheat gently in a pan with a splash of milk, since the sauce can split in a microwave.
Cost per serving is indicative, based on New Zealand supermarket prices as at September 2026. Batch prices your own week against your own store on the day. Nutrition figures, including calories, are estimates rather than label readings, so always check the packet if you have an allergy. "Notable for" reflects well-established qualities of the ingredients used, not a lab measurement of this exact dish.