The Pasta Dish You Will Make All Summer: Grilled Chicken and Summer Veggie Pasta with Pesto Cream Sauce

Minimal dishes, minimal ingredients, maximum flavor!

Summer is my favorite season. Yes, it’s blazing hot in Texas, but we also get to enjoy daylight til 9 o’clock or later in the evening and I get to wear shorts and flip flops everyday.

Summer’s also when farmers markets are teeming with all the best possible produce. In Texas, our summer season starts early, like now, with first-of-season tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, summer squash and onions of all colors. This dish celebrates these stars of easy summer cooking as well as the cooking method of this season - Grilling!

Summer Grilling = Less Dirty Dishes

Grilling your dinner not only keeps your house cool in the summer, it also means less dishes. Besides the baking sheet to transfer everything, you will only have a large pot for cooking pasta and if you make the pesto, a food processor to clean.

Take everything outside on a 12 x 18 (AKA half sheet) pan then wash it with hot soapy water before using ito transport the grilled food to the kitchen to finish meal.

my haul from this week

The Veggies

The first onions and summer squash - zucchini, yellow squash, patty pan - are tiny but mighty. (Also descriptors of me according to my husband.) They have the best texture and flavor at this point. Simply cut in half to grill or slice thinly for adding them raw to salads.

As the summer progresses, other veggies will be available. Feel free to add more or sub in whatever you like. Peppers are an especially good addition. You can use green beans, but they’re not easy to grill without a perforated grill skillet. If you don’t have this, just steam them on the stovetop or in the microwave until they are just bright green and tender. It won’t take long!

In the recipe, there’s an optional Flavor Boost lemon vinaigrette. It really makes the flavors pop and ensures the chicken will be juicy, especially if you use chicken breasts (see below). If this is just one more step and it would prevent you from making the recipe, skip it. It will still be really good. That said, using the lemon vinaigrette to reverse marinate grilled veggies is always a good idea for an easy summer BBQ side.

When tomatoes are available, I love to cut them into bite sized pieces then soak them in good olive oil and serve them raw on top of the completed pasta to add color and a little acidity but using the lemon vinaigrette I’ve included will offer the same benefits.

Veggies with Lemony Vinaigrette…a side dish on its own.

The Chicken

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are the most obvious choice, but they can be dry. If you want a juicier alternative try boneless, skinless thighs instead. If chicken breasts are huge and thick, butterfly them to make two thinner pieces or for time (and potentially finger) saver, buy chicken cutlets. They grill really fast, so be careful.

• Cut in half starting on one long side the cut through so the chicken opens up like a book.

• Cut in the middle to make two halves.

• If the wider end is still thicker on both halves, cut crosswise where it starts to narrow so you can cook the pieces separately and remove the thinner pieces first.

The Sauce

The Cream Sauce is so easy. You can use heavy cream and let it cook down for a few minutes to thicken up. Or you can use NutPods thickened with a little tapioca starch for a dairy free version. I will have directions for both. Pesto is added after removing from heat to retain its color and flavor.

Basil is another summer market star and the key ingredient for pesto so I’m including my pesto recipe on the PDF in case you have an abundance of basil or you’re dairy free. Make pesto ahead if you’re DIYing as it can be stored up to a week. You can certainly buy prepared pesto as a time saver, however.

Grill Method

I’m giving instructions for gas grill, but if you’re a purist and have a charcoal grill, set it up and make sure it’s really hot before starting with step three.

1. Heat up your grill to high and bring a pot of water to a boil.

2. Cook the pasta while waiting for grill to heat. Add a palmful of salt and the pasta. Let the pasta cook for 8-10 minutes or until it’s just barely tender and there’s still a little bit not completely cooked in the center of pasta. Now you know the meaning of al dente! Reserve two cups of the pasta cooking water in a glass measuring cup then carefully dump the pasta into a strainer to drain.

3. Grill chicken and veggies:

   1. On a large baking sheet, season chicken and veggies with Magic Salt (1 part pepper, 2 parts granulated garlic and 3 parts sea salt)

   2. Place everything on the grill and let chicken cook on one side until you can see white creeping up the edges halfway. While this is happening, wash the baking sheet well with hot soapy water.

   3. Chicken should cook til it reaches 160 degrees. Remove chicken pieces as they are done and veggies when they are brown and tender. Place on clean baking sheet and cover with foil while making sauce.

4. In the same pan you cooked pasta, make cream sauce

   1. Heavy Cream Version: Bring cream to a simmer - you’re looking for little bubbles around the edges and let simmer until it coats the back of the spoon - this is called “reducing” but just means you’re evaporating out some of the water to thicken it.

   2. Dairy free version: NutPods will need an assist in thickening, so whisk in 1 tbsp tapioca, corn or potato starch before bringing to a simmer. Let thicken until the mixture coats the back of a spoon then remove from heat.

5. Cut chicken and veggies into bite-sized pieces while the cream is reducing.

6. Add 1/2 cup pesto to the cream mixture and a handful of shredded parmesan (regular or VioLife for dairy free) then add pasta and stir to coat the pasta with the sauce adding reserved pasta water as needed, starting with 1/4 cup, to make a silky sauce.

7. Stir in chicken and veggies then serve immediately with extra parm.

Sheet Pan Method

Directions are basically the same except cooking method. Use a large 12 x 18 sheet pan for everything.

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Cook the pasta while waiting for oven to heat. Add a palmful of salt and the pasta. Let the pasta cook for 8-10 minutes or until it’s just barely tender and there’s still a little bit not completely cooked in the center of pasta. Now you know the meaning of al dente! Reserve two cups of the pasta cooking water then carefully dump the pasta into a strainer to drain.

3. Cook chicken and veggies:

   1. On a large baking sheet, season chicken and veggies with Magic Salt (1 part pepper, 2 parts granulated garlic and 3 parts sea salt)

   2. Arrange the chicken on one side and the veggies on the other. Spray liberally with avocado oil spray.

   3. Roast for 8 minutes then remove veggies to a cutting board if they are starting to brown and are tender. If they aren’t, flip the chicken and return everything to the oven. Roast for another 5 minutes or until chicken registers 160 degrees.

4. In the same pan you cooked pasta, make cream sauce

   1. Heavy Cream Version: Bring cream to a simmer - you’re looking for little bubbles around the edges and let simmer until it coats the back of the spoon - this is called “reducing” but just means you’re evaporating out some of the water to thicken it.

   2. Dairy free version: NutPods will need an assist in thickening, so whisk in 1 tbsp tapioca, corn or potato starch before bringing to a simmer. Let thicken until the mixture coats the back of a spoon then remove from heat.

5. Cut chicken and veggies into bite-sized pieces while the cream is reducing.

6. Add 1/2 cup pesto to the cream mixture and a handful of shredded parmesan (regular or VioLife for dairy free) then add pasta and stir to coat the pasta with the sauce adding reserved pasta water as needed, starting with 1/4 cup, to make a silky sauce.

7. Stir in chicken and veggies then serve immediately with extra parm.

Full Recipe PDF