Friday, October 19, 2012

Chicken, Macaroni & Tomato-Basil Bake


Gloom and doom outside today. Those are always days I turn to comfort food! I first thought of chili, but I usually go with that. So I figured why not something a little different. I'm not big into casseroles, but I'm definitely big into cheese! 


4-5 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt/pepper to taste
3-4 large vine ripe tomatoes, boiled, skins removed and chopped (or you can just use a 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes with juices)
If you have fresh basil great, I didn't have any on hand so I used dried
1 cup small macaroni (I used ditalini)
1 heaping cup of your favorite Italian Cheese, I used Mozarella. Asiago, Smoked Gouda and or Fontina would also be great in this dish.

Preheat oven to 350

Cook the macaroni for about five minutes. No need to cook it all the way, it will finish cooking in the oven. I cooked mine in low-fat, low-sodium chicken brother, completely optional.
While that cooks, saute the chicken and season with salt, pepper and basil. Once it starts to brown add in the onions and garlic. Cook about five minutes. 
If you are boiling the tomatoes- Fill a saucepan with water, add tomatoes and boil until the skins start to pull apart. Drain and let cool until you can handle them. Remove the skins and center. Chop roughly and add to the chicken mixture. Stir just a minute or two more. Drain the macaroni, add the cup (or more ) of cheese and toss well. Pour that into the chicken mixture. 
Spoon everything into a square baking dish. Top off with grated cheese. I'm using Pecorino Romano, you can use Parmesan. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until all the cheese is nice and bubbly. 
Enjoy!

Next up puff pastry turnovers....


Copyright © 2012 Salvo-lutions by, Dana Salvo


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