Cheesy Chicken Pasta

I mentioned on my Facebook page that I was trying a new recipe – one that began as a recipe in one of my new cookbooks but ended up as it’s own entity entirely, thanks to my additions and subtractions as I was making it.

I started with some leftover chicken – from the Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken we’d had for dinner the other night. I diced it up into bite-sized pieces.

While I was doing that, I boiled about 1/2 pound of ziti pasta.  As it was cooking, I got a hugemongous stock pot and added the following to the chicken: a can of cream of mushroom soup, milk, Velveeta, cream cheese (stay with me here) some mozzarella and some “Italian cheese blend” I had.  I also sprinkled in some garlic and house seasoning.  Once the pasta was cooked and the cheeses melted, I mixed it in, too, and dumped it all into a 13×9 casserole.  Oh, and I added some leftover bacon (cooked) that we had hanging around in the fridge.

Let me just tell you, it was a decadent, rich, gooey delight last night. One that SuperMan and Big Girl devoured. Little Bit is not much for casseroles, so she tasted it and stuck to her usual choice of cereal (when dinner is not to her liking, that is) but we all enjoyed the new menu item.

I hope you give it a try. It’s a great way to use up some leftovers – and feed a crowd – on the cheap.

I’ve got a surprise for you all in the works… I’ll share more soon, but I’m hoping you’ll be as excited as I am.

Here’s the recipe in case you feel like being cheesy:

Big Girl’s Cheesy Chicken Pasta

Ingredients

1 cup Milk
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
8 ounce Velveeta cubed
8 ounce Mozzarella shredded
8 ounce Kraft Four Cheese Italian Blend shredded
8 ounce pasta uncooked, ziti
1/4 teaspoon Garlic powder
1/2 cup Butter cubed
4 slices Bacon cooked crispy & chopped
8 ounce Cream cheese cubed
2 1/2 cups Chicken cooked, cubed

Instructions

1. Cook pasta al dente (not too soft)
2. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine soup, cheeses, milk, butter and garlic powder. Stir until cheeses melt.
3. Add chicken, heat through.
4. Drain pasta. Add to sauce and mix thoroughly.
5. Transfer to a greased 13×9 pan.
6. If desired, sprinkle with parmesan and mozzarella for a topping.
7. Cover, bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
8. Uncover, bake an additional 5-10 minutes until top is golden brown.

Yields: 10 Servings