BAKED MOZZARELLA CHICKEN PASTA
Jason Glover
8
15 minutes
20 minutes
708
The ultimate winter pasta casserole! Chicken, mushrooms, and spinach in a creamy pesto sauce, topped with plenty of gooey mozzarella!
Ingredients
- 2 cups penne pasta
- 2 cups chicken cooked and cut into bite size pieces
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 package frozen spinach, thawed OR 3 cups fresh spinach
- 2 cups milk (skim, whole, or almond)
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 cup pesto (see recipe below if you want to make your own)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella OR fresh buffalo mozzarella, pinched into small pieces
Homemade Pesto
- 3 cups fresh basil
- 3 tbsp pine nuts
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp oregano
- ⅔ cup grated parmesan
- ⅔ cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Tools
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cook the penne pasta until al dente.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic until softened.
- Add the cooked chicken, mushrooms, spinach, milk, flour, and Italian seasoning. Season with salt and pepper and stir until thickened.
- Add the pesto and cooked pasta. Stir until well combined then transfer everything to a casserole dish.
- Top with the mozzarella cheese and bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbly.
- For the homemade pesto, combine everything except the olive oil in a food processor or blender.
- Blend until mixed and smooth.
- With the motor running, slowly stream in the olive oil and blend until just combined (you don't want it to be soupy).
