Pesto Cream Sauce

Graham and I are down to a handful of days left together before he deploys, so I wanted to make a couple of his favorite dinners this week. He absolutely LOVES my chicken pesto pizza, so that was on our menu for the other night. However, when I got home from work Tuesday night, I wasn't in the mood to cook, so we went out for pizza.

Not wanting to have pizza two nights in a row, I decided to use the same flavors and combine them in a different way. And it was every bit as successful as the pizza always is. The pesto was so delicious stirred into a creamy Alfredo sauce, and the addition of the olives and tomatoes gave it a little something extra. Topped with a perfectly grilled chicken breast and served with garlic bread, this is one of the best dinners I've made in a while.

I won't make this very often, because I made the mistake of calculating the calories (ouch!), but I'll definitely keep this in my repertoire  for special nights where calories don't matter.

Fettuccine with Pesto Cream Sauce & Grilled Chicken (6 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 1/2 stick of butter; chopped into small pieces (about 8)
• 1 cup of pesto (I was lazy & used jarred...)
• 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup of grape or cherry tomatoes; halved
• 1/4 cup of kalamata olives
• 3/4 of a box of fettuccine
• salt & pepper to taste
• Cooked chicken breasts; optional

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.
2. Heat heavy cream to a simmer in a large sauce pan.
3. Reduce the heat to low and add the butter in, one piece at a time. Whisk the sauce while you're melting the butter.
4. Stir in the pesto and the Parmesan cheese.
5. Fold in the tomatoes and olives.
6. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Mix well, making sure the pasta is evenly coated with the sauce.

This would be absolutely perfect at this point, but we topped ours with a chopped chicken breast to give it some lean protein.

Enjoy!