Baked Penne with Chicken, Broccoli, and Smoked Mozzarella

Again, another simple and easy recipe. I thought it was pretty tasty, Ryan and his dad enjoyed it as well. I need to learn to cook for 2... I suppose it will be nice when I start work to use this type of thing for lunches. 

*the smoked mozzarella was in the fancy cheese thing at Fred Meyer. 

Serves 6-8 

Ingredients:

Toppings

3/4 c bread crumbs (I used panko that were Parmesan and herb... yum!)

3 Tbsp butter, melted

Filling

1 bunch broccoli (about 1 1/2 lbs) stalks cut off, florets trimmed into 1-in pieces. (I used Cauliflower and broccoli, we had a little bit of both left over)

12 oz penne pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

6 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 c all purpose flour

2 c low sodium chicken broth

1 c heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces

6 oz smoked mozzarella, shredded

8 oz jar oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped into pieces ( I thought this was a BIT excessive, I am not a huge fan of sun dried tomatoes, I have had it on things I really liked and some not so fond of... so do what you please, I used maybe 1/4 of the jar.)

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and butter, set aside.

Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish, set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with the rack in the middle.

In a large pot bring water to a boil, for the pasta. Stir in 1 tablespoon of salt and the broccoli, cook the broccoli, until bright green, about a minute. remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Return the water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente, about 1-2 minutes less than you would normally cook. Drain in a colander and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil. Leave it in the colander for now.

Wipe the pot dry. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the flour, salt and pepper, cook stirring constantly until golden, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the broth and cream; bring to a simmer, whisking often. Add the chicken and cook through, 6-7 mintues. Stir in the sun dried tomatoes and smoked mozzarella. 

Add the cooked pasta and broccoli to sauce, stir to combine. Transfer the pasta mixture to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the bread crumb topping.

Bake until the casserole is bubbling and crumbs are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

*casserole may be prepared in advance, after you cook the broccoli, remove from pot and plunge into bowl of icewater, let cool completely. Aseemsble the casserole following the directions in recipe. After the cacserole is spread in the prepared baking dish, let cook 5-10 minutes before covering with plastic wrap refrigerate up to 8 hours. To bake, preheat oven to 375, bake uncovered 30 minutes.