Hearty Fall Dinner - Baked Pasta with Chicken and Artichokes!

Cheesy chicken and pasta bake!

Fall weather is coming soon, which means more delicious dinners to make! This baked pasta tomato ziti-style dish uses chicken, artichoke hearts and just the right amount of cheese.  It's lovely and filling on cold evenings. I've adapted this recipe from a few I've found online. This version is my favorite, though I believe you may swap out the meat and vegetables and it would still work well. There are several steps in this dish, and it took about 1.5 hours from start to finish.

Ingredients:

1 pound (box) of dry Rotini or Penne shaped pasta

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 6-7 pieces

12 oz. of artichoke hearts (Trader Joe’s frozen bag works great)

8 oz. of fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ yellow onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 26-ounce jar tomato pasta sauce

Pasta, vegetables and chicken cooking!

3/4 cup sour cream

6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

2 ounces shredded parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of butter

4-6 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

1 tsp. of French herbs

Salt to taste

Non-stick cooking spray

Equipment:

9x13 baking dish

Large skillet

3 quart pot for pasta

Cutting board, knife, tongs/spatula

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or lightly grease with butter.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil then add pasta and cook according to the package directions for al dente, about 7-10 minutes. Before draining, reserve about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water – we will use this later. Then, drain pasta, leave in colander briefly.

Once the pasta is cooked, use the same pot to heat the tomato sauce on the stove. When it’s slightly bubbling, turn off the heat and add cooked pasta back in and toss to coat.  Set aside.

In large skillet, heat olive oil until shimmering, add in chicken pieces.  Add in salt and French herbs on top.  Sauté chicken until brown and cooked on all sides, about 7-9 minutes.  Remove from pan, let cool slightly, and chop chicken into smaller, bite size pieces. Set aside.

Sauteing mushrooms, onions and garlic

In the same large skillet, heat up more olive oil. Add in the chopped onion.  Caramelize the onion in 5 minutes, then push to the side of the pan, off the heat.  Add in 2 tablespoons of butter, let melt.  Add in chopped mushrooms and minced garlic, sauté for 4 minutes.  Add in frozen artichoke hearts and reserved ½ cup of pasta water.  Sauté for 2 minutes and mix all vegetables together. Add salt if desired. Turn off heat. Add chopped chicken back into the skillet, toss to mix.

Last layer before the cheese

Add about half of the pasta and sauce mixture to the baking dish. Then, spread half of the chicken and vegetables on top, pressing down to create an even level.  Spread all of the sour cream, top with half of the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.  Add remaining pasta and chicken and vegetables layers. Press everything down into the baking dish then scatter the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses on top. Sprinkle chopped basil over top.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Remove, let cool for 5 minutes, then scope out to serve and enjoy!