Chicken Pesto Pasta

Pesto is Liguria's gift and its rule book: basil from Prà, Ligurian olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano and Pecorino Fiore Sardo, pounded — never blitzed hot — in a marble mortar. Purists serve it with trofie, potatoes and green beans. Add grilled chicken and cherry tomatoes and you have a summer plate that still respects the sauce's one non-negotiable law: pesto is never cooked. It meets the pasta off the heat, loosened with pasta water, so the basil stays green and the perfume survives.

1. 1

   Toast the pine nuts

   3 min

   Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking constantly, until just golden — about 3 minutes. Tip them out immediately; they burn in seconds.

2. 2

   Grill the chicken

   10 min

   Rub the butterflied breasts with oil, salt and pepper. Grill 4 minutes per side on a hot grill pan until charred and 74°C inside. Rest, then slice.

3. 3

   Blister the tomatoes

   3 min

   In the same pan, add a spoon of oil, the halved tomatoes cut-side down and the crushed garlic. Cook 3 minutes until they slump and char at the edges.

4. 4

   Cook the pasta

   10 min

   Boil the fusilli in well-salted water to al dente. Reserve 250 ml of pasta water before draining.

5. 5

   Dress off the heat

   2 min

   In a large bowl — not the hot pan — loosen the pesto with 4 tbsp of warm pasta water, then toss through the drained pasta until every spiral is coated.

   Chef's note · Never heat pesto directly. Warm pasta water gives it a creamy body without cooking the basil.

6. 6

   Assemble

   2 min

   Fold in the tomatoes and sliced chicken. Scatter pine nuts, shaved Parmigiano and torn basil. Serve at once, or at room temperature in high summer.