Chicken Rigatoni Casserole

With a hectic schedule, it’s often hard to find time to whip up a fantastic meal. Which leads to one of three things, eating out, eating bland or not eating at all. All three tend to happen sometimes but too often can spell bad health and loss of energy. One of the greatest and simplest meals to get all the food groups to the table is a good ole’ “one pot meal.” Some of you may be familiar with one type in particular…the casserole. Casseroles can be made with anything and can be vegetarian, meat based or anything in between. This “Chicken Rigatoni Casserole” is something that will have you coming back for seconds, thirds and fourths! Let’s get started with making my delicious “Chicken Rigatoni Casserole”!

Total Time: 45 min

Prep: 25 min

Cook: 20 min

Yield: 6 Servings

Level: Easy

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breast, cooked and cubed

5 Whole Mushrooms, sliced

1 Small Bunch Parsley, chopped

1 Small Onion, small diced

2 Clove Garlic, minced

½ Box Rigatoni Noodles, cooked

S&P to taste

 

2 T Butter

2 T Flour

1 C Chicken Broth

¼ C White Wine

½ C Heavy Cream

2 oz. Romano Cheese, sliced

10 Ritz Crackers, crushed

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a medium sized pot of salted water add two cleaned chicken breasts. Cook your chicken breasts for 10 to 15 minutes or until completely done. While your chicken breasts are cooking, prep parsley, onions, garlic and mushrooms and set aside in a bowl.  Once chicken is completely cooked, removed from pot, cube and set aside. Reserve 1 cup of your chicken broth and add ½ box of noodles into the remaining chicken broth. This will add some extra flavor to your noodles. Boil your noodles for 5 to 7 minutes, once your noodles are tender, strain and set aside.

In a pan, add 1 tablespoon of butter and sauté your vegetables for 1 to 2 minutes. In a small pot add butter and flour, whisk together until mixture becomes fragrant, similar to pie crust. Add your white wine, I used Chardonnay for mine but any white wine will do. Next add your broth and cream. Lastly, add the sliced Romano cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In an 8” or 9” glass pan combine noodles, sauté mixture and cream sauce. For an added saltiness and crunch, sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers over the top of the casserole. Place pan into oven and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Once the 20 minutes is up, serve up and enjoy!