White Meat

Pesto pasta with chicken

Servings: 4 people
Carbohydrate Serves: 2 per person
(1 carbohydrate serve = 15 grams of total carbohydrate)

The easiest of easy Monday night dinners? And if your kids are also eating this, think about replacing fettucine pasta with something more bite-sized like conchiglie (shells), farfalle (bow ties) or rigatoni (tubes). (Main carbohydrate containing ingredients listed in bold.)

Ingredients

Pesto

  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed
  • 1 bunch fresh basil, roughly torn
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1 tablespoon light olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 chicken breast fillets (weighing approximately 350- 400g/ ~ 1 pound in total)
  • Light olive oil
  • 200g/ ½ pound green beans, trimmed
  • 1 punnet/ 250g/ ½ pound cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • 400g / ~ 1 pound cooked fettucine pasta

Combine all ingredients for pesto and blend with a kitchen whiz, a hand blender or a mortar and pestle. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to packet instructions. Stir through pesto, cover with lid and set aside.

Steam or blanch green beans.

Season chicken fillets with salt and pepper. Over a medium heat, heat oil in a heavy based frypan and cook fillets for around 5 – 8 minutes each side or until cooked through. Towards the end of cooking time, add tomatoes to pan. Let fillets sit for several minutes before slicing.

Serve approximately 100g/3.5 ounces of pesto pasta per person, topped with sliced chicken, tomato and green beans.

Post GDM-suggestions: Add 2 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts to the pesto mixture and blend.

  • Sandy Green says:

    Pesto Pasta is a delicious recipe, if you enjoy white meat dishes, this is a real treat. This healthy meal is tops for summer or winter, and I can highly recommend it. Children and adults alike love this dish. Yours truly, Sandy Green.

  • Gina says:

    This was great! Yummo! I have made extra so I can have some pesto pasta for lunches.

    • Lisa says:

      Hey nice one Gina. I also love a jar of pesto in the fridge to jazz up a salad sandwich or toastie. Thanks for your feedback. Lisa x

  • Lisa says:

    Hi Kat. Chicken thighs contain less fat than salmon (fat also makes it harder for insulin to work and can therefor result in higher blood glucose levels). Check out this info here https://gestationaldiabetesrecipes.com/eating-well/#does-fat-matter Thanks for your comment. Lisa x

  • Lisa says:

    Hi Liz, Some nuts contain much more fat than others and fat (along with carbohydrates) is the other thing that will affect blood glucose levels. Lisa x

  • Alicia says:

    This recipe was so delicious I will continue to make it after my pregnancy. Thankyou so much for this webpage it has been my saviour, there was only so many salad sandwiches I could eat. It has made dealing with gdm so much easier and mealtimes an enjoyable experience again

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I’m Lisa Taylor, the mum behind GDRecipes. I created this site after having GDM myself & because I love food. I’d like to inspire, motivate & support you to cook & eat well during your pregnancy with GDM & beyond. Come read my story. My kitchen is your kitchen. ... Read more

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