Pasta Princess’s Homemade Lemon Fettuccine Noodles with Chicken and Kale in Pesto Sauce

I hadn’t made pasta in a little while and had been hungry for my lemon fettuccine. I also had an overabundance of homemade pesto in the freezer from last summer’s crop of basil.  I came up with the following recipe with ingredients I had on hand and I must say, I was quite pleased with the outcome!  Delicious.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups chopped kale
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 boneless chicken breasts, grilled and cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup homemade pesto
• 1 lb. lemon fettuccine
• 1 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 cup reserved pasta water

Directions:

Grill chicken breasts and cut into small pieces.

Heat butter in frying pan and saute red bell pepper for approximately 6 minutes.  Add chopped kale to the pan and cook until wilted, approximately 5-6 minutes.

While heating the pasta water, put pesto in a small pan and heat on low.  Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to directions (or if using fresh homemade pasta, cook approximately 3 minutes until pasta floats to the top).  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water to add to pesto.

Add water to pesto to desired sauce consistency (I used the entire cup) and add freshly shredded parmesan.  Toss with pasta and add chicken, red bell peppers and kale.

Lemon Fettuccine Noodles