{"id":2382,"date":"2010-03-10T21:16:42","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T03:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/?p=2382"},"modified":"2010-03-10T21:16:42","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T03:16:42","slug":"baked-cheesy-chicken-penne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/10\/baked-cheesy-chicken-penne\/","title":{"rendered":"Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the weekend I prepared a new freezer friendly meal.\u00c2\u00a0 The recipe makes enough so that you have a pan to eat now, and a pan to freeze for later.\u00c2\u00a0 We shared the first pan with family, and it was enjoyed by all.\u00c2\u00a0 I planned to save the other pan for next month, but I pulled it out of the freezer tonight after a long day with a very cranky 2 year old and a raging headache from a sinus infection that just won&#8217;t go away.\u00c2\u00a0 Truth be told, I think it tasted even better from the freezer!\u00c2\u00a0 To make this dish come together even more quickly, you can use shredded rotisserie chicken and a jar of mushrooms, and skip the steps about cooking those ingredients.\u00c2\u00a0 This recipe is definitely a keeper!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2384\" title=\"Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Baked-Cheesy-Chicken-Penne.jpg\" alt=\"Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne\" width=\"557\" height=\"458\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Baked-Cheesy-Chicken-Penne.jpg 557w, https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Baked-Cheesy-Chicken-Penne-300x246.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 557px) 100vw, 557px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: large;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne<\/h4>\n<p>from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ourbestbites.com\/2010\/02\/baked-chicken-penne-freezer-meal.html\">Our Best Bites<\/a>, based on a recipe by Martha Stewart<\/p>\n<p>Ingredients:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes<\/li>\n<li> kosher salt and black pepper<\/li>\n<li>1 pound penne rigate<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon olive oil<\/li>\n<li>2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 8 ounces each), halved horizontally<\/li>\n<li> 1\/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour<\/li>\n<li>6 garlic cloves, finely minced<\/li>\n<li>6 cups whole milk<\/li>\n<li>10 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced<\/li>\n<li> 1 cup sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained<\/li>\n<li>1 1\/2 cups shredded provolone* (6 ounces) (<em>I used an Italian blend)<br \/>\n<\/em><\/li>\n<li>1 1\/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 6 ounces)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. If you&#8217;re going to freeze one, use a disposable foil pan.\u00c2\u00a0 In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta and set aside.<\/p>\n<p>While pasta is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise.\u00c2\u00a0 While chicken pan is still hot, toss the mushrooms in and saute until golden brown (3-4 minutes).\u00c2\u00a0 Use a little extra olive oil if needed.<\/p>\n<p>In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot (I just use the pot I cooked my pasta in), melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking constantly, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer.\u00c2\u00a0 Keep whisking frequently as sauce thickens, about 1 minute more. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. take the pan off the heat and and gradually stir in provolone and 1\/2 cup Parmesan.<\/p>\n<p>Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes.\u00c2\u00a0 If freezing, place remaining parmesan cheese in a zip-top baggie.\u00c2\u00a0 If cooking, sprinkle on top.<\/p>\n<p>Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.<br \/>\n<strong>Freezer instructions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To freeze, prepare through step 4 and then let pasta cool.\u00c2\u00a0 Cover pan well with plastic wrap.\u00c2\u00a0 Place extra cheese in baggie (for topping) on top and then cover entire pan well with foil.\u00c2\u00a0 Freeze for up to 3 months.\u00c2\u00a0 To bake, preheat oven to 400.\u00c2\u00a0 Remove foil and plastic from pan and set cheese baggie aside.\u00c2\u00a0 Place foil back on pan and bake for about 1 1\/2 hours.\u00c2\u00a0 Remove foil, stir pasta, and top with cheese.\u00c2\u00a0 Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbly throughout.<\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/10\/baked-cheesy-chicken-penne\/\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the weekend I prepared a new freezer friendly meal.\u00c2\u00a0 The recipe makes enough so that you have a pan to eat now, and a pan to freeze for later.\u00c2\u00a0 We shared the first pan with family, and it was enjoyed by all.\u00c2\u00a0 I planned to save the other pan for next month, but I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,11,5,35,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chicken","category-freezer-friendly","category-main-dish","category-pasta","category-recipes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2382"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2387,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382\/revisions\/2387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thepickyapple.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}