Sundried Tomato & Basil Pesto Zoodles with Chicken

Ok ya'll - I may actually be a little bit obsessed with zoodles. They are totally a household staple. Costco has made it really easy to indulge. They sell this large bag of organic squash with yellow squash and zucchini. According to the Costco Business Listing, it's 7 squash total, but honestly I haven't counted. It's only $6.99. All you need is a bag of squash + Spiralizer (affiliate link) and you are in business.

My latest creation was inspired by Coffee & Crayon's Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil Pesto Pasta with Shrimp. I changed the recipe: less ingredients, less work, less time, chicken and ZOODLES! Ok - so I made quite a few changes, but I want to give credit where it is due. After having this creation, I can only imagine how delicious the original is.

This recipe is almost solely a mix of Costco purchases. However, most of the ingredients could be purchased on Amazon or at another store. You could also make your own, or use another brand. For the meat I used a Costco rotisserie chicken. We almost always have one in our house. It's much quicker to work with already cooked meat, and you can make so many different things with it. Check out some of the MMC Rotisserie chicken recipes here. You can also use the leftover bones to make chicken stock - I can't remember the last time I actually had to buy stock. 

I used a portion of a Costco sized jar of Sundried Tomatoes in Oil. I did purchase my jar on sale at Costco, but you can get this same one on Amazon (affiliate link here).  I also used Johnny's garlic seasoning - again I purchased this at Costco, but it is available on Amazon (Affiliate link here).  I also used Kirkland brand pesto. There's no alternative place to purchase, but you can use another brand, or follow the original recipe and make your own. I freeze my pesto so it's always on hand (how to freeze)

Sundried Tomato & Basil Pesto Zoodles with Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 C Sundried tomatoes in oil
• 1/4 C Pesto 
• 2 Tbl Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 tsp Johnny's Garlic Spread
• 2 Tbl tomato paste
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbl water

• 1.5 C chopped rotisserie chicken
• 2 zucchinis (Or 1 squash + 1 zucchini)

Directions

1. Spiralize zucchinis. Place in colander. Salt generously. Set aside and let drain. 
2. Combine the first set of ingredients in a small food processor or blender. 
3. Heat a pan on medium heat. Add a couple spoonfuls of pesto and chicken to the pan. Heat until warm, stirring frequently. Add a couple more spoonfuls and zoodles to pan. Stir until combined and warmed. Note: you may need to add a tablespoon or two of water to help everything combine. 

While this recipe was a huge hit, I think in the future I'm going to try a WW friendly cream version to combat the heat. You could probably halve or leave out the red pepper flakes also. I just love a good cream sauce. This also made way more pesto than I needed! I only used 1/3-1/2 of the pesto sauce.I saved the remaining pesto for another dish. I'm sure it would freeze well also (if you used fresh pesto).