Pesto Chicken Pasta

6 oz. spaghetti

2 carrots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons butter

2 large skinless, boneless breasts, cut into bite size pieces 

1 pkg. basil pesto mix

½ cup finely shredded Italian cheese blend

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet cook carrots in butter over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add chicken; cook and stirring until no pink remains in chicken. Make pesto according to package directions.  Add 4 tablespoons pesto; toss to coat.  Drain pasta. Return to pan; toss with remaining pesto. Toss in chicken mix and cheese.  Makes 6 servings.

Martha:  This is, of course, a recipe I found and made changes to.  The original called for refrigerator pasta and jar pesto.  I used ½ a package of spaghetti and bought a dry package of pasta mix.  I’ve used the jar a well as the mix and like the mix better.  The original had the chicken served on top of the pasta but I just made it easy and mixed it in with the spaghetti.  I also changed the cheese from Parmesan to an Italian blend which had some Parmesan in it.  This turned out so good.  I shared with 4 of my food testers and they all loved it.