Fabulous Leftover Chicken Recipe!
Recycled Chicken
My husband calls me the Kitchen Witch...
I have a knack for making tasty meals from whatever I can scrape together from the pantry or with whatever is leftover in my fridge. I know that there are about a million chicken casserole recipes out there, but this one is really good. It's so good that my husband INSISTED that I post it. Please note, the photo was very last minute- as was this casserole. The recipe was impromptu, straight from my head. I had some leftover broccoli, along with three grilled chicken breasts from the previous night. If you have roasted a whole chicken and have leftover, dark meat or a mix of both is also fine. Ok, here goes. Try it and let me know what you think.
CHRISTINE'S LEFTOVER CHICKEN CASSEROLE:
3 leftover chicken breasts (chopped into small cubes)
leftover broccoli (optional- chopped)
500 grams (about a pound) of Fusilli pasta (this type works best)
500 grams (about a pound) of white mushrooms- sliced
1 large onion- chopped
1 big celery stalk- chopped
1/2-2/3 liters low fat milk (about 2-3 cups)- you can use whole milk to make it creamier
grated Parmesan cheese
3 T butter
3 T flour
generous splash of white wine
salt, pepper, garlic powder (to personal taste) and whatever spices you like to add
Preheat oven to 180c (about 350f)
1. Boil water and cook pasta. In the meantime...
2. Sauté onions and celery. Set aside.
3. Sauté mushrooms until tender. Drain liquid from mushrooms and save it- set aside.
4. Creamy White Sauce: Make a rue by melting butter on low-med heat in saucepan. Add flour and toast it for a few seconds, stirring constantly. Slowly add the mushroom liquid. Allow that to absorb and thicken, then add a generous splash of white wine. Continue stirring and lower heat. Slowly add the milk and season with a bit of salt or any other spices you like. When your creamy white sauce is nice and thick, remove from heat. It should be the consistency of gravy.
5. When pasta is cooked and drained, add the onions, celery, mushrooms, broccoli (opt) creamy white sauce, some cheese (about 4 T) and seasoning to taste. Mix well and pour into a lightly oiled casserole dish.
6. Sprinkle top with cheese and bake for about 30-40 min until the top gets brown and crispy.
Serve with a medium bodied white wine.
Simple, huh? My husband went nuts over it. Hope you like it. Thank you for reading!
C. De Melo
