Basil Pesto Pasta Salad with Spinach

I made this recipe recently and was very impressed with it. Although it may be another salad, I recommend trying it. I packed this up for my lunch today and it was sooo good! I didn't include the chicken because I didn't want to take the time to cook it, and it was still perfect.
*Also, I cut the recipe down to about half, which served 2 medium-sized salads

Pesto Pasta Salad with Spinach

 

1 pkg bow tie pasta whole wheat or plus 

1 TB olive oil

1 cup basil pesto jarred or homemade (see below)

1/4 cup Italian dressing

1 cup chicken grilled, can, rotisserie 

2 cups spinach 

1 pint cherry tomatoes 

1/2 cup feta cheese

1. Cook the bowtie pasta according to package directions in a large pot of salted water. Drain the pasta and run it under water. Drizzle with olive oil and stir around.
2. Put the pasta in a large serving bowl and stir in the pesto and Italian dressing. Add the spinach, chicken, tomatoes and feta cheese. Toss to combine. Salt and Pepper to taste.
3. Cover the pasta and refrigerate. If the pasta seems dry before serving, you can stir in another tablespoon of olive oil.

*I have never bought basil pesto before, and I looked at several recipes online to get a feel for a good basil pesto. I tossed ingredients together, but here is an estimate of the measurements (you can double if you are using normal portion amounts, since I cut it down to 1/2.)

1/3 C very finely chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp olive oil

1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese 

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

*combine ingredients together for the pesto