Sundried tomato pesto chicken breasts, mezzi rigatoni cacio e pepe

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Preparation

Place the dried tomatoes in an adequately sized container and cover them entirely in water. Allow them to soak overnight in the refrigerator.

Strain and dry the tomatoes. In a food processor, place 50 ml of the olive oil, the garlic, almonds and lemon juice, and mix. Add the tomatoes and mix again. Add half of the grated Parmesan and mix at high speed in order to achieve the texture of pesto (not entirely smooth). Season and set aside.

In a non-stick, oven-proof pan, pour the remaining olive oil and heat over high heat. Season the chicken breasts and delicately place them in the sizzling pan. Fry until golden and lower the heat to medium for 2 minutes without moving the meat.

Turn the chicken breasts over and place a large spoonful of tomato pesto on top. Spread it across the chicken and place the skillet in the oven at 375 °F (190 °C) for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes, pesto side up.

Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the package. Once these are done, save 100 ml of the cooking water.

Pour the saved cooking water into the same pot; add the butter and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Bring to a boil and add the still-hot pasta. Add the Parmesan; remove from the heat and mix. Tip for optimal flavour: Add the juice from the resting meat to the pasta.

Reheat the chicken breasts in the oven. In the meantime, plate the caccio e pepe pasta in pasta dishes. Top each plate with a piece of chicken. Note: The remaining pesto can be refrigerated for a week and enjoyed just like any other pesto.

Source: Martin Juneau