Summer Pasta

Is anyone else ready for fall? I can feel it in the air. From the back to school vibe to all the pumpkin recipes beginning to circulate around Pintrest, fall is in the air. Yesterday we had cloudy skies and the temp dipped all the way to 85! I immediately felt the urge to run out and buy boots! Every year I look for fall with desperate anticipation.  Sadly, I live in Texas so fall doesn't come until late November and then it usually last for about 5 hours.

So while it's still summer, we might as well enjoy our favorite summer recipes, right? Derek and I LOVE pasta night but I have a hard time getting excited about a rich red sauce with heavy meat and thick spaghetti when it's 110 degrees out.  So recently, we decided to come up with a summer pasta dish to satisfy our inner Italians!

This dish combines farfalle pasta, fresh summer veggies, grilled chicken and pesto to create a light, but filling meal! Paired with a caesar salad its the perfect meal for a hot summer day!

One of my favorite things about this meal is the grilled veggies.  Cooking the veggies on the grill gives them an almost smokey taste which adds such amazing flavor to the whole dish.  Now, I'm sure you can buy fancy contraptions for doing veggies on the grill but I simply make a little tray out of aluminum foil! Just fold up the edges to hold the veggies in and, voilà!

Begin by prepping your veggies.  Chop up squash, zucchini,  cherry tomatoes, and garlic.  I like to keep the slices thick so that they keep a little crunch after they are cooked! Once everything is chopped, load it all onto your grilling tray, drizzle with some olive oil. and salt and pepper to taste.

Mmmmmmmm....

Salt and pepper your chicken breasts and they are ready for the grill. Pop the grilling tray on with your chicken and let your grill work it's magic!

While the chicken and veggies are grilling you can cook your pasta.  

I'm not sure what turned us onto farfalle pasta but I just love it. And the kids get a real kick out of "bow" pasta.

Just look at those adorable little bow ties boiling away!  I love them!

When the chicken, veggies and pasta are done, you can put your dish together.  First, slice your chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Put your pasta into a large bowl and top with the veggies and sliced chicken. Make sure your bowl is big enough to allow room for tossing!

Add 3 Tbsp of pesto. One day I hope to make my own pesto. But since my herb growing skills seem to need some cultivating (pun intended!) we use Classico traditional basil pesto.  

Toss the pasta, veggies and chicken with the pesto and your pasta is ready!

I like to top my pasta with copious amounts of parmesan cheese, but that's up to you! 

For a simple caesar salad simply chop a head of romain lettuce,

and toss with tomatoes, parmesan cheese and your favorite caesar dressing. I just LOVE Briannas' caesar dressing.  It's made with asiago cheese and it's sooooo yummy!

I hope everyone is enjoying the dog days of summer! I know I'm praying for cooler temps but while it's still hot, enjoy this summer dish!