Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Baked Artichoke Chicken Pasta Recipe

2-3 TB olive oil, divided
1/3 C yellow onion, diced
salt & pepper
4 cloves large garlic, thinly sliced
1 lb boneless & skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 tsp Italian seasoning, crushed
12 oz rigatoni pasta
3 TB butter
3 TB flour
3 C whole milk
pinch nutmeg
1 heaping C grated Parmesan cheese
12 oz artichoke hearts, quartered (use jarred, packed in oil & drained)
1 C mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions
1. In a large skillet heat a tablespoon or 2 of oil over medium heat and add the onions. Season with a dash of salt and pepper, cook 5 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Remove to a small bowl and set aside.
2. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. In the same skillet heat another tablespoon of oil over medium heat and add the chicken. Cook through, stirring every few minutes so all sides get browned. Remove from heat.
3. Cook pasta to al dente in plenty of salted water. Meanwhile make the sauce and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
4. In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook 3 minutes, whisking often. Slowly whisk in milk, bring to a simmer for 3 minutes, whisking often. Turn heat to low, whisk in nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, Italian Seasoning and the parmesan cheese. Turn off heat.
5. Generously butter a 9x13-inch casserole or baking pan. Drain pasta, add back to the pot and toss with the chicken and onion/garlic. Add about 3/4 of the sauce to the pasta and stir well. Pour into the casserole pan and spread out evenly.
6. Scatter the artichokes evenly over top then spoon the remaining sauce over them. Sprinkle with the mozzarella.
7. Bake 40 minutes until bubbly all over and golden on top. If the cheese starts to get too brown cover with aluminum foil. Allow to set 5 minutes before serving.
(Recipe found at: http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/)


My notes:
1. If you follow the directions as written, everything gets done in a timely order. Don't start the noodles before it says otherwise they will probably get over-done or get cold. The sauce doesn't mix as well with cold noodles.
2. The first time I followed the directions for the artichokes as written, and it was good but Ryan and I didn't think the flavored blended with everything as well as it should have. So the second time around, I used our "Slap Chop" on the artichokes to make them much, much smaller. You could also use a knife and mince them as well. It turned out so much better that way! The overall taste of each bite was just right instead of some bites having large chunks of artichokes while other bites having nothing at all.
3. When I make this again, I think that I'm going to 1 1/2 the sauce recipe instead of doing it as is. This is why. I love to dip garlic bread or bread sticks into stuff like this. While we were able to do that with the bread sticks I served, I would have preferred to have the whole thing a bit more saucy. It would just add that extra little bit for my delicious bread sticks!

This recipe is seriously SO GOOD!!! It's probably my new favorite Italian dish. It does take some time to make (I'd guess about an hour and a half or so from start to finish) but it's actually quite simple. I'm not a chef by any means, so if I can do it I'm sure that you can! And you most definitely should!!! :)

Xoxo!

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