It’s pasta day for us, my wife wanted penne. I didn’t want a tomato sauce with it so I came up with something that would work for both of us. Looked a few recipes and picked out this concept, and came up with this baked dish. A little bit of extra work but well worth it.
1 large chicken breast cut in half and sliced
3 cups of penne
8 mushrooms sliced
1/2 red onion sliced
3 green onions chopped
1/2 cup peas
5 cloves minced garlic
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tomato sliced
1 and 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 and 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
2 cup milk
2 cups half and half cream
pinch of nutmeg
Cook penne in a pot of salted boiling water for 6 minutes, drain, rinse under cold water, set aside.
In a preheated frying pan on medium heat add olive oil, chicken, 1/2 tablespoon salt, 1/4 tablespoon pepper, cook for 1 minute, add red onion, mushrooms, 3 cloves garlic, cook for 3 minutes. Remove from pan, in the same pan add butter. When melted add remaining garlic, salt, pepper, and flour, cook for 2 minutes whisking constantly. Add milk and cream, when thickened add nutmeg, and cheeses, cook until it is bubbling. Return chicken mixture to the pan and mix, add peas and green onions, mix in penne. Place in a buttered casserole dish and top with tomato slices. Cook in a preheated 350 oven for 40 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
How I Cook — by Graham Stewart 