Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

Giada De Laurentiis is my favorite chef to watch on the Food Network. I have gotten so many fabulous recipes from her. This is just a great dish. Enjoy.

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

1 cup pastina pasta (any small pasta)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomoatoes with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheeese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Serves 4-6

3 comments:

Kathy said...

Please teach me the right way to mince a glove of garlic!!! I'm going to try all your recipes! I love cooking, too!

MollyE said...

I smash the garlic with the flat side of a big knife. That takes the peel right off. Then I just mince it. I have one of those garlic press things but don't use that if it says to mince the garlic because it takes all the good juices out. That is all I know, I'm sure there are better ways. For me, just learning how to take the peel off quickly helped a lot.

Kathy said...

Thanks, Molly! I'll try it. And I'm definitely going to try your salmon recipe, too. Post more! Love you!