Pesto Pasta Salad

So I found a recipe on one of my new favorite blogs, Momzoo. She has a lot of great-looking recipes on there. I wanted to have a little formal Back to School Dinner the night before school started. I decided to try this pasta. It is not a very healthy meal nor is it particularly cheap but it was EXTREMELY easy. So on occasion I plan to make it, especially when I may need to take a salad to an event. I was able to use her technique for cooking chicken, which I LOVED. I will cook my chicken this way from now on. I also enjoyed using some of our own garden tomatoes for this recipe. My family all loved it, except one child. Next time I make it I will go easier on the olive oil and/or mayonnaise. It was kind of on the oily side. I would also add more tomatoes. It made a very large amount, so we were able to eat it for dinner twice and share some with a couple of neighbors. Recipe is taken straight from said blog and you can even find a full picture tutorial here.

Pesto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

2 pkgs bow-tie pasta
3 cups mayo (I would do 2 1/2 ish)
1 cup sour cream
4 pkgs Pesto Mix (I used 3)
8 Tbsp Olive oil (I would use a bit less next time)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 Chicken Breast (I used 3)
1 pkg cherry tomatoes (I used appx. 6 small roma tomatoes, diced)

Directions:

Cook your pasta. While it is cooking make your sauce. Start with the mayo then add the sour cream. Mix in Pesto packets. Stir that all really well until creamy & green. Add olive oil. Use extra virgin for a better taste. Add grated parmesan cheese. It will look lumpy. Pour it over the HOT pasta so the mayo, sour cream, & cheese can melt into it. Cut up tomatoes & add them.
Dice your chicken and add it. (If you are serving this as a side to a protein, don't add chicken at all to cut down on costs, otherwise add chicken if it is your main dish). Stir well and put in refrigerator. Delicious hot, warm or as a cold salad. (I tried it all three ways and loved it each way!)

*Please comment and tell me your experience using pesto packets vs. bottled pesto vs. homemade pesto!