Pesto Pasta with Rotisserie Chicken and Peas

Let's Cook

1. 1Step 1

   Fill a large pot with about 4 quarts of water, add a generous palmful of salt — it should taste like mild broth, not seawater — cover, and set over high heat. While it comes up, pull the rotisserie chicken into bite-size shreds with your fingers until you have 2 cups, discarding skin and bones. Set out 1/2 cup pesto, 1 cup frozen peas and 1/2 cup parmesan. The water is ready when big bubbles break the surface continuously and keep rolling after you stir.

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   Shred the chicken while the water heats, not after. Once the pasta drains, everything moves fast and you don't want to be picking at a carcass.

2. 2Step 2

   Add the 12 oz pasta all at once and stir for a full 10 seconds so the pieces separate instead of fusing on the bottom. Set a timer for one minute less than the package time, then bite a piece: tender with slight resistance and no chalky white core. If it's chalky, give it 30 more seconds and taste again.

3. 3Step 3

   2 min

   With 2 minutes left on the timer, tip the frozen peas straight into the boiling water — no thawing. They'll float and turn from dull gray-green to vivid bright green, which means they're heated through. Before draining, dip a mug into the pot and reserve about 1 cup of cloudy cooking water. Drain the pasta and peas, shake the colander once, and return them to the hot empty pot.

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   Reserve the water before draining, not after. Set the mug away from the sink edge — pouring it down the drain is the most common way this dish goes wrong.

4. 4Step 4

   2 min

   Take the pot completely off the burner and set it on a cool surface. Add the pesto and a big splash of reserved water, then toss hard with tongs for about 30 seconds. Watch it change from streaky and oily to glossy and creamy, coating every piece rather than pooling. Add the chicken, toss until the shreds are buried in the hot pasta, cover, and wait 1 to 2 minutes. Push an instant-read thermometer into the thickest shred: it must read 165°F. If it's lower, set the pot over low heat and toss one more minute, then check again.

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   If the sauce looks broken and oily, add another splash of hot pasta water and toss harder. Agitation plus starch is what pulls it back together.

5. 5Step 5

   Scatter the parmesan over the top and toss until no dry shreds remain and the sauce looks a shade thicker. Taste a forkful with chicken in it and add salt a pinch at a time — jarred pesto and parmesan vary wildly in saltiness, so this is a real judgment call. If it looks pasty or tight, add reserved water a tablespoon at a time until it turns silky. Serve right away.

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   Warm the serving bowls under hot tap water and dry them. Cold bowls stiffen pesto within a minute of plating.