Description
Pasta casseroles happen when you’re getting hangry and need a full hearty dinner. This bechamel pasta casserole packs in greens and veggies!
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts, fully cooked and cubed into bitesize pieces – we used Quorn meatless chicken fillets
- 1 box pasta – gemelli, mostaccioli or penne work best, but you can use whatever you have
- 1 10 ounce bag of frozen mushrooms – we used the Whole Foods 365 mix of white, cremini, portobello, and shiitake mushrooms
- 1.5 cups frozen peas
- 4–6 cups spinach – we were out so we missed this, but it’s a great way to pack greens in
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 5 garlic cloves, smashed then chopped
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 cup veggie broth (or chicken broth if you prefer)
- 1 cup milk – any kind, we used unsweetened Almond milk because that’s what we had
- 1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream or 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt – we used yogurt, if you do, you’ll need another half cup of milk
- 1.5 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2.5 teaspoons La Dulce Vita
- 1 Tablespoon That’s Amore Classic Italian Herbs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper and salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cook pasta according to instructions. Drain pasta, toss with a Tablespoon of olive oil and set aside
- Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet and heat on medium high. When hot, add garlic and cook for two minutes then sprinkle in cornstarch and mix well.
- Whisk in in broth, heavy cream (or yogurt) and milk, whisking to incorporate it all, adding in flour one Tablespoon at a time as needed to thicken to your liking. Add That’s Amore herbs, crack a round or two of pepper on top, and add the teaspoon of salt.
- Cook mixture on medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring often as is thickens so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Stir in the cooked chicken (or chck’n), spinach, peas, mushrooms and parmesan. Remove from heat. Add 2 teaspoons of La Dulce Vita spice mix to the sauce and veggies and stir well.
- Place half of the pasta in a 13×9 casserole dish, then pour half of the sauce on top and blend in the casserole dish so the pasta is well covered. Sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese on top. Add the rest of the pasta on top of that and pour the rest of the sauce over it, then add the rest of the mozzarella on top. Sprinkle the remaining half teaspoon of La Dulce Vita on top of it all.
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake uncovered for about 5 minutes (or use broiler) to brown the cheese on top, then serve
- Category: Casserole
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Italian