Chicken/Pasta Bake

[LadyMiles]

Walking around the grocery store today I decided to make something that has been a pretty big hit in my home in the past, chicken/pasta bake. I purchased all the ingredients needed and rushed home to ensure dinner would be done before everyone came home from school and work. Upon arriving home I immediately fired up the grill and lightly seasoned a few pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast. I then got the water going for a couple pounds of rigatoni noodles. I put the chicken on the grill and sauteed an onion and some mushrooms. Once the chicken was ready I cut it into bite size pieces. Then the fun part. I combined the rigatoni pasta, bite-sized chicken, spaghetti sauce, the sauteed mushrooms and onions, and a can of whole tomatoes into 2 9x13 baking dishes. After everything was mixed up I sprinkled mozzarella cheese over the top, covered both baking dishes with a piece of aluminum foil that I sprayed with non stick cooking spray to prevent the cheese from sticking, and popped them in the oven on 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Out the oven came a little bit of heaven. In the past I have just used the chicken, rigatoni, and spaghetti sauce, but today, I felt like adding something to make the dish a bit different. As I sit here typing up this post everyone in the house has a full belly and a smile on their face. Mission accomplished!!

 

[nutmegprincess]

I really want to have an oven. It's pretty expensive here where I live, so I don't have one. When I get one, I will make this. Thank you for sharing your recipe! I am a big pasta fan!

 

[OhioTom76]

I love making baked pasta dishes, they are really filling, plus they make great leftovers too. For an easy shortcut when making them, I just cook the pasta in the microwave in a large glass or plastic bowl, covered with a few inches of water above the pasta, for about 12 minutes on high. I usually use Rigatoni pasta for baked pasta dishes, which holds up perfectly when cooked in the microwave. Basically in the time it takes you to boil a pot of water, you can have the pasta already done. Another trick someone mentioned to me was to let the pasta cool until it stops steaming completely, before adding it to the other ingredients - that will help protect against it making the dish too watery or diluted.

This might sound a bit weird, but it's actually fairly traditional, we often put diced smoked ham, chopped up hard boiled eggs, and dollops of Ricotta cheese in our pasta bakes, then top with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. First you toss the pasta with a basic red sauce first, then add it to the baking dish and then insert the other ingredients. I also use a similar set of ingredients for a Stromboli - sauce, Mozzarella, Ricotta, ham, and hard boiled egg.