Chicken Pesto Bake . . .as in Sparkpeople.com today

No, I'm not writing about eating meat, being "skinny fat" or the poor lives of these hairless cats, although all the above would make great topics . . . I just loved this and wanted to share it!!  

I'm sharing a recipe I made last night - a favorite in the home ever since someone brought it after one of the boys was born. I LOVED those days!  A great dinner just magically appeared complete with salad, some type of yummy comfort food and, of course, dessert!  The best!  This CHICKEN PESTO BAKE is always a hit but extrmely heavy on the whipping cream, butter and cheese.  I've lightened, and my family is none the wiser!  

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CHICKEN PESTO BAKE

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http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=2039252&ff=1
Click here to see the page on Sparkpeople.com. and the  nutritional information. (It also looks a lot better than here where I've tried to "supercopy" it in here! This lightened version is only about 247 calories per serving!  You won't miss a bit of the whipping cream, butter or cheese!  Promise!

A great make ahead dinner full of vegetables, a little cheese and plenty of protein. Freezes well.

Ingredients

2 Cups Chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 Cup Onion, chopped
1 Cup mushrooms, sliced
1 Cup zucchini, sliced
1/2 Cup celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T Olive Oil
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 T dried basil
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp cracked black pepper
16 oz whole wheat penne pasta
3/4 Cup whipping cream
3/4 Cup Skim Milk
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese
2 T Parmesan Cheese
1 T pesto (or more to tasta)

Directions:  Saute in olive oil the onion, mushrooms, zucchini, celery and garlic until crisp tender. Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Cook and drain pasta. Combine everything in a large bowl and set aside. Cook whipping cream, milk, jack cheese and pesto over low heat until cheese melts, stirring. Pour over pasta mixture. Spoon into 9 x 13 casserole or 2 8 x 8 pans. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake covered 35 minutes at 350 degrees.
Serving Size: Makes 10 1 cup servings
Number of Servings: 10

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user MARLADEEN1.


By the way, we are up to 32 Push Ups!  How are you doing??