Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Chicken Pasta

As I have mentioned in the past, my husband & I used to be members of the Tuscan Club with Viansa Winery. We ended that membership when Baby Rush came along, but I still had a ton of food/pantry items that remain. As I work through my pantry, I am trying to use up some of those. I came across a Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto.

I found a few recipes to use it in. First up, a pasta dish I found on Cooking Light, although I wouldn't categorize this as light. The pesto was very oily. I linked the original recipe below, however, the typed up version is what I did.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Chicken Pasta Toss
Yield
6 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Ingredients
Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Pasta:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 packaged sliced mushrooms
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated fat-free milk
1/2 cup diced swiss cheese (you can use whatever you want)
4 cups whole wheat rotini pasta

Preparation


To prepare pasta, heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan. Add minced garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add balsamic vinegar and mushrooms; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in pesto and evaporated fat-free milk. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes. Add diced cheese; cook until cheese melts, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Combine chicken mixture and pasta, tossing well to coat.