Friday, July 15, 2011

Mac and Cheese Casserole

I based this off of a recipe I saw on the cooking channel. (It also reminds me of the casseroles my grandma used to make). I was watching Giada, and she made a simple dish for a kids recipe. I got inspired and decided to make a "grown up" version. I think it turned out great! I'm sorry, I haven't been able to find the original recipe since I was watching a rerun of Giada on TV, and when I tried to look it up on her website, couldn't find it. (Wish I had written the name down!) So...here's my version!

Mac and Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:
- "Tiny" pasta (just mini noodles of any kind)
- 2 Chicken Breasts
- 3 or 4 Zucchini
- 2 cans of diced tomatoes (I used "wood fired" with garlic added)
- Fresh Basil, chopped
- Mozzarella Cheese (as much or as little as you like)
- Parmesan Cheese
- Romano Cheese
- Bread Crumbs


Directions:
Start cooking the pasta according to the package directions. Cut the chicken in to bite-sized cubes and cook on the stove top on medium heat in a pan with olive oil. When the chicken is finished, add in the chopped/sliced zucchini to heat up. Drain the pasta and place in a large mixing bowl. Dump in the tomatoes (juice and all), cooked chicken, zucchini, and mozzarella cheese. Mix all together and place in a baking dish. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and Parmesan and Romano cheeses on top. Cover with foil.

Bake at 400* for 30 minutes. I removed the foil at about 25 minutes so the top would be nice and crispy and "mealty".

Super easy and super yummy!!!



(sorry for the small/bad picture...I only took one with my phone)