Today’s recipe is a cheesy baked pasta that I found over at Our Best Bites. Sara based the recipe on a Martha Stewart recipe. This yummy dish consists of a cheesy pasta blended with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, and mushrooms. Now I know the sun-dried tomatoes aren’t something most of you probably keep on had, so you could just leave them out if you like. Then just up the amount of chicken or mushrooms by 1 cup or I was thinking some broccoli or asparagus tips would also work well in place of the tomatoes. I did however really enjoy the sun-dried tomatoes in this dish but some of my family did eat around them.
Another great thing about this recipe is it makes two – 2 quart dishes. So you can make one and take one to someone or make one and freeze one or have enough for a dinner to serve 8-10 people. I made one and froze one. The thing I love about the frozen one is you cook it straight from the freezer. No need to let it thaw in the fridge a day before. Love this! The frozen version was almost as fabulous as the fresh dish.
When I made this recipe I also decided to try it with some pasta samples that I had received from Ronzoni. They sent be a couple of boxes of their new Smart Taste Pasta. So here is the beauty of their Smart Taste pasta. It is a white pasta that has 3 times the amount of fiber of regular pasta, the same amount of calcium as in an 8 oz. glass of milk, and is a source of Vitamin D. So if whole wheat pasta isn’t your thing or your kids won’t eat it, this is a great choice. There are 7 g of fiber in one serving! Love that! I must say no one noticed the difference and I felt like I was serving my kids a healthier choice. I am definitely gonna watch for this pasta to go on sale and stock up on it. The Smart Taste is available in Spaghetti, Thin Spaghetti, Penne Rigate, Rotini, Extra Wide Noodles, Angel Hair and Elbows. It’s retail price is $1.69 and they have a 75 cent off coupon here.
Finally, the winner of the “Nourish Your Inner Goddess” giveaway from Yoplait and MyBlogSpark is:
Kate who said: I always love any kind of berry yogurt.
Congrats Kate!
Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne
- 6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 pound penne rigate (I used a 14.5 oz box of Ronzoni Smart Taste Penne Rigate)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 8 ounces each), halved horizontally (I used some leftover cooked chicken)
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
- 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 6 cups whole milk
- 10 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced (I used 8 oz of button mushrooms)
- 1 cup sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
- 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone (6 ounces) (I used an italian blend that had provolone in it)
- 1 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 6 ounces)
- Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. If you’re going to freeze one, use a disposable foil pan. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta and set aside.
- While pasta is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise. While chicken pan is still hot, toss the mushrooms in and saute until golden brown (3-4 minutes). Use a little extra olive oil if needed.(Since I used left over chicken, I just cooked the mushrooms in the olive oil)
- In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot , melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking constantly, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer. Keep whisking frequently as sauce thickens, about 1 minute more. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Take the pan off the heat and and gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
- Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes. If freezing, place remaining parmesan cheese in a zip-top baggie. If cooking, sprinkle on top.
- Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Freezer instructions:
To freeze, prepare through step 4 and then let pasta cool. Cover pan well with plastic wrap. Place extra cheese in baggie (for topping) on top and then cover entire pan well with foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, preheat oven to 400. Remove foil and plastic from pan and set cheese baggie aside. Place foil back on pan and bake for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil, stir pasta, and top with cheese. Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes (I only did 10 minutes) or until mixture is hot and bubbly throughout.
I modified this on my blog. Don’t worry I give credit where it’s due. You’re the Real Mom, I made a Bizzaromom version
http://bizzaromom.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/creamy-baked-penne-with-chicken/
I made this tonight. It was delicious! I substituted provolone with emmental. I was dubious about the sun-dried tomatoes, but it was a nice surprise! thanks for sharing the recipe.
Made this tonight, minus the mushrooms as my husband despises them, and it turned out very good. I am especially excited that I have an entire second dinner in the freezer! Perhaps not my favorite meal, but definitely good enough to add to the rotation.
I make a few alterations to appease my picky BF (no veggies, cook the chicken with some Italian herbs, and use a mix of asiago/white cheddar/parmesan for the cheese) and cut it down to single pan size. He absolutely LOVES this dish and will request it fairly regularly.
Found this recipe on pinterest the other day and it brought me here. Just made this tonight with a few little changes and YUM! Huge hit with everyone. Thanks for sharing. I posted a pic of mine on my blog today.
I just made this tonight and was quite surprised at how well it turned out! I figured it would be tasty just by looking at the ingredients but it was more than that, it was absolutely delicious! I changed around the cooking pots and pans but other than that stuck to the recipie. Side note: this is a “whole kitchen counter” kind of meal. Make sure you give yourself enough room and ample time!
I found your site through Pinterest (the Twix Bar recipe), and found this recipe. Made it last night, substituting Dreamfields Rotini (as I am low carb) and adding broccoli (and leaving the mushrooms and tomatoes).
Very, very good. This on is a keeper!
Made this over the weekend with a few minor tweaks (had to sub sausage for chicken, skipped the mushrooms, and replaced a little of the provolone cheese for some mozzarella due to not having all ingredients on hand). Delicious!!! Definitely 2 thumbs up
I tried to follow this recipe exactly but had problems with the sauce. It thickened up REALLY fast and there really wasn’t enough liquid for the dish. Can I add more milk to fix it? The flavors and all were great though.
You could probably add more milk, but my grandmother always added a few ice cubes when her gravy started to thicken too quickly, so that might work too. Also, turning down your heat, or removing the pan from the heat for a few minutes (not too long) helps too.
made this tonight, minus the tomatoes and my family, which includes kids, 6,5,4 and my husband, loved it. next time i will add some broccoli or spinach. thanks for the recipe!
Made this tonight…. my sister, her boys and my boyfriend all LOVED it!!! I used 1% milk instead of whole, margarine instead of butter and 1 can of petite diced tomatoes instead of sundried. yUMMY!!
My family will love this. I can’t wait to make it.
Very tasty! I added 1/8 tsp fresh nutmeg (always makes a cream sauce POP!) and 1/4 C rosé wine to the sauce. Fabulous!
Just made this for dinner. It wasso good! Un
Instead of provolone, I used gruyere. Also, added some crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning. Will definitely be making this again!
I found this a little bland… would use more cheese next time.
I haven’t even gotten it out of the oven yet and my mouth is watering!! Smells de-lish!! Can’t wait for dinner to be done!
This was super!! FYI if you have two very hungry guys bake both pans we fed 7 and only had a small serving of left overs we all fought over ºÜº
I made this this week–and LOVED it. I even splurged for the sun-dried tomatoes–they were TOTALLY worth it. Loved it!
We had this tonight & it was sooo great! We substituted asparagus for the sun dried tomatoes… tasted better than restaurant quality!
I tried this recipe tonight with 1 cup spinach instead of the sun-dried tomatoes. (I couldn’t bring myself to pay that much for the tomatoes and I had some spinach left-over from making a salad.) It turned out really good. The whole family loved it – except for the child that doesn’t like parmesan cheese. Thanks for sharing.
How much spinach did you use? I’m thinking of doing the same!
I saw this recipe too, and made it last week. It was delicious, and relatively easy to make! I love that it made an extra pan to freeze for later. I think your suggestion to add broccoli or asparagus (or maybe even spinach?) is a great idea!
This dish sounds wonderful I am going to try it tonight!
The pictures of this dish look amazing!! I so want to make this tonight. I need to see if I have all the ingredients at home. Great recipe!
That sounds delicious!
Now that’s my kind of dinner! Beautiful Laura!!
You had me at “Cheesy!” Thanks Laura! This is my kind of meal!
Make this all the time for my family and they LOVE it, thanks! I love meals you can make ahead of time too.