This recipe has chicken and bacon, which can be left out for a vegetarian.  This recipe can serve up to 8 people.  The pic above is the vegetarian version which contains spinach.  

Ingredients:
1 lb pasta (such as cavatappi/cellentani, Lumaconi)
4 strips of bacon
2 cups panko bread crumbs
4 chicken thighs
½ tsp Adobo
1/3 cup water
1 tbsp BBQ sauce (I used my homemade bourbon bbq sauce)
2 tbsp oil
1 cup poblano pepper, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup vadalia onion, chopped
2 green onions, sliced 
1 clove garlic, minced 
½ tsp cumin
2 tsp chili lime spice blend
1 tsp Cajun or creole seasoning
3 tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk
1/3 cup, plus 2 tbsp chopped cilantro   
2 ½ cups finely shredded Mexican cheese blend
Salt and pepper
 
Directions:
In a large pot, cook the pasta in salted water until 2/3 of the way cooked.  While the pasta is cooking, cook the bacon in a pan until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan and set aside until cooled.  Add the bread crumbs and toast them on low in the bacon grease.   Once bacon is  cooled, break it up in to little pieces. Remove the bread crumbs and toss them with the bacon . Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add water, adobo , bbq sauce and chicken to pan, cook on medium heat until chicken is cooked thru, turning once, shred and set aside.   Drain the pasta and put it in a baking dish.    Using the same pot, add, oil, peppers, onions and garlic. Cook until just soft and add the remaining spices.  Stir and cook for 2 min.  Add butter and flour to make a roux, slowly whisk in 3 cups of milk and simmer gently until it’s slightly thickened.  Add salt and black pepper to taste.  At this point, stir in 1/3 cup cilantro and pour the thickened milk over the pasta.  Mix in the shredded chicken and 2 cups of the cheese.   Top with the remaining half cup of cheese, 2 tbsp cilantro and breadcrumbs.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min.  

This recipe yields 4 servings. 

Basil Pesto Recipe -
Ingredients:
4 cups of fresh basil leaves
½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup of pine nuts
2 garlic cloves
½ cup parmigiano reggiano cheese
1 tsp sea salt.
½ tsp black pepper

Directions:
Place pine nuts and pine nuts in the food processor, blend until coarse meal.  Add basil and salt.  Start the processor and drizzle in the oil slowly. Once pureed add the cheese, pulse a few times until smooth.    

Pasta Recipe –
Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups Kale (keep the thin small stems)
1/3 cup of olive oil (I use extra virgin)
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ Vidalia onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
½ tsp of crushed red pepper
½ tsp of black pepper
1 tsp salt (more if needed)
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
Parmigiano Reggiano (for serving)
1 box of capellini
Coarse salt
 
Directions:
Heat a large pot of water for the pasta.  Once boiling, add the coarse salt. 
Sauce:  Heat 2 table spoons of EVOO in a skillet over medium heat, add minced onions. Cook until softened, add garlic, crushed red pepper and a pinch of salt.  Cook until garlic has softened.  Add the chopped tomatoes.   While this is cooking, puree the Kale in the food processor, drizzle in the oil slowly.  Add some water to the mixture as it’s processing to make in to a paste.  Once the tomatoes are a little soft, add the kale to the pan.   Stir in 1/3 cup of basil pesto, cover and cook for a few minutes and then salt and pepper to taste.  
Pasta:  Add the capellini to the pot of boiling water after the sauce is done.   Cook the pasta until al dente.  Reserve 1 and 1/2 cups of pasta water.  Drain the pasta, return to the pot.  Add ½ cup of reserved pasta water, sauce, lemon juice and lemon zest to the pot.  Toss gently to combine, add pasta water as needed. 
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Top with Parmigiano on the plate before serving.