Creamy chicken pesto pasta salad (and yes, it’s low fodmap!)

Everyone LOVES a chicken pesto pasta salad but… adapting it to suit the low fodmap diet involves some challenges. To ensure us fodmappers don’t miss out, I’ve tweaked this recipe in a way that maximises flavour - firstly by slow roasting the cherry tomatoes so that they literally pop in your mouth and secondly by adding some baby rocket for some extra pow. The result is a delicious and hearty pasta salad that’s great for lunch the next day (if you have any leftovers). And yes, you’re going to see garlic in the ingredients and panic! Not to worry. I added it to my slow roasted tomatoes and then discarded it. When you can’t eat garlic without fallout, sometimes the smell satisfies the urge to eat a whole clove!

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4 (served warm)

• 135g cherry tomatoes (45g per person is the recommended low fodmap serving size. To make these go further, I used small juicy heirloom cherry tomatoes for maximum flavour and colour and cut them in half so it looks like I was eating double the allowable limit!)

• 5g olive oil (1 tbsp)

• 1 clove garlic, unpeeled

• 32g pinenuts

• 80g basil leaves, stems discarded

• 80g olive oil

• 80g parmesan cheese, grated

• Squeeze of lemon

• 3 chicken breasts, grilled on the BBQ and roughly chopped

• 250 penne pasta (The recommended low fodmap serve for corn and rice flour pasta is 80g or 1 cup which is higher than for wheat pasta 75g or ½ cup. Because quantity matters when I’m feeding my horde, I went for the higher serving size. For this recipe, I used The Gluten Free Lab 250g penne packet)

• 50g baby rocket

• 80g (4 tbsp) lactose-free sour cream

METHOD

Slow roast cherry tomatoes, tossed in quality olive oil, salt and pepper in a small baking tray in a warm oven 150C for 50 mins with a clove of unpeeled garlic (which you’ll later dispose of). I shook the tray a little after 40 mins just to see if the tomato nuggets were crystallising and to ensure they weren’t completely sticking to the bottom of the tray.

Toast 32g of pinenuts on stovetop to release the oils and optimise the flavour. Add to a blender, along with basil leaves, virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Blitz. Yes, I understand that these first two steps are a bit of a faff, but I’m all about the flavour.

Stir in grated parmesan, lemon juice and zest and a good pinch of black pepper.

Cook pasta according to instructions on the packet.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, add pesto sauce, cooked and chopped chicken thighs, baby rocket, sour cream and stir. Add roasted tomatoes on top and some fresh basil leaves for some decorative flair.