Paleo Green Pepper & Almond Pesto Zoodles & Chicken
Paleo Green Pepper and Almond Pesto Zoodles & Chicken recipe. A gluten-free, whole30, grain-free dish made with a pesto sauce made of green pepper, almonds, pine nuts, basil, garlic, and olive oil. Lighter and full of protein.
This Paleo Green Pepper and Almond Pesto Zoodles & Chicken recipe was inspired by a dish that our husband and we ate during our honeymoon on the Amalfi Coast.
We always spend time researching where to eat when we travel, and Da Adolfo popped us as a “must try” restaurant off of Positano.
What’s cool about this place is that you can only get to it by boat. The restaurant sends a ferry to a dock in Positano and they bring you to their little restaurant on the sea.
It’s full of tables closely put together, and is surrounded by beach chairs, for those who want to lay out and go to the beach. (If you ever want to go here, you need a reservation… it’s always packed and for good reason).
They don’t really have a menu, they just tell you what’s good that day and you order.
Our husband and we ordered the mozzarella grilled on lemon leaves, mussels covered in marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella and tomato spaghetti, and the green pepper almond pesto spaghetti. (We were there with two friends, and shared all the dishes… don’t judge. haha)
ALL of the food was absolutely satisfying. The mussels were incredibly fresh, the mozzarella was satisfying, and the spaghetti was on point.
But the one dish that surprised us the most was the green pepper almond pesto spaghetti.
You see, we don’t really like green pepper. We don’t even think we have any recipes on this blog with green pepper in it.
We were a bit bummed when we heard that green pepper was in the sauce, but we were intrigued by the flavor combination and so many other people had ordered it, that we figured it was good.
Well, it was absolutely delightful. We actually loved the way the green pepper and almonds complimented each other. It was a mixture of bitter green pepper, with creamy sweet almond, and hints of basil.
It was just so satisfying and satisfying, that we made the mental note to make this myself back home.
Which brings us to this Paleo Green Pepper and Almond Pesto Zoodles & Chicken.
Ingredients needed to make this Paleo Green Pepper and Almond Pesto Zoodles & Chicken recipe:
- garlic
- green pepper
- almonds
- pine nuts
- basil
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- chicken
- zucchini
This recipe is SO flavorful. And everything that we had hoped for, especially compared to the one that we tried at Da Adolfo.
How to make this pesto zoodle dish:
First off you make the pesto by putting the green pepper, almonds, pine nuts, basil, garlic, and olive oil into a food processor and mixing it until the pesto is done.
Then you grill some diced chicken in some of this satisfying pesto, until it is golden brown.
After that, cook the spiralized zucchini and in the pesto sauce. The pesto gets even more creamy, as it cooks and mixes together.
Lastly, toss the chicken into the zoodles, and sprinkle some pine nuts on top. And voila! A green pepper almond pesto dish that you can enjoy at home!
simple, but satisfying!
It’s comfort food at it’s finest, yet it’s also Whole30, paleo, grain-free, dairy-free and gluten-free. Basically free of guilt and lighter for you.
Plus it makes us think of Italy and our honeymoon. Could pesto get any better?
Prep 10 minutesCook 20 minutesTotal 30 minutesMakes 4
Ingredients
- 2 small cloves of garlic
- 1/2 of a small green pepper
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1 cup fresh basil, (.75 ounces)
- 4 Tbs olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 pound chicken,, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2-3 zucchini,, spiralized
Method
- Put garlic cloves, and the green pepper into a food processor and chop until minced. Then add the pine nuts and almonds to the food processor and mix, until they are completely ground. Using a spatula, push down against the sides of the food processor. Then, add the basil, olive oil, salt and pepper to the food processor and mix. You may need to push down against the sides of the food processor and mix again.
- Put some olive into a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add the bite sized chicken to the pan, cover in 3 Tbs of the green pepper almond pesto, and mix. Cook while mixing every so often until the chicken is golden, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan.
- Add a tiny bit of olive oil to the pan, add the spiralized zucchini / zoodles to the pan and cook over medium heat, while mixing often for 3 minutes. Then add the rest of the pesto to the pan, mix and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until you have your desired zoodle texture.
- Note: If you spiralize 2 zucchinis, this should serve about 2-3 people, but if you spiralize 3 zucchinis, it should serve 3-4.
Notes
- Note: we used the shredder blade from our Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer to make the zoodles. <h3 class="wprm-recipe-header
