Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Dumbing down casserole on a crazy Monday night

When I initially saw this recipe I thought of course I'd cook and bread my own chicken - let's do it up right. Yeah. No. Monday nights I'm not really in the mood for "from scratch" cooking. I want something I can toss in the oven and make it easy. I tweaked this one and made it easy. Instead of pounding, breading, and frying, I opened a bag and put four pieces of frozen chicken on a pan and cooked them that way. Done and done. This was very simple to make and my family very much enjoyed it. You don't have to make things from scratch in order for them to appreciate it. From scratch is awesome when you have time and want to do it... this time for me? No thanks. I was thankful I could spend the afternoon with my kids instead of getting club fingers from mixing up my dry hand and my wet hand for breading.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole
Ingredients
¾ pound rigatoni/penne pasta
24 oz. marinara sauce
3 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded & separated
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
4 frozen breaded chicken fillets - baked and hot from the oven
Fresh Parsley, to garnish

Instructions
Boil water and cook the rigatoni for 1 minute less than al dente- (Refer to package for cooking time).
When the pasta is ready, drain it add it back to the pot. Toss with 24 oz. of sauce, 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the mozzarella. Set aside.
Slice the strips into smaller bite-sized pieces.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Add half of the rigatoni/sauce mixture. Top with half of the chicken strips, 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
Add the remaining rigatoni. Add the chicken strips and the remaining Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

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