This past weekend, I was blessed with four days off of work. And boy, did we use it. We painted, bought our bedroom furniture, had a game night with friends, and I cooked dinner. I'm in the process of setting up a date to meet with a potential florist, so slowly but surely, the wedding planning continues.
Of all the nights I took out of my four day weekend to cook, I chose last night. After an overabundance of red pepper flakes in some otherwise delicious pasta, I was feeling the need to make a homemade Olive Garden - esque meal to make up for it. And pinterest, being the lovely site that it is, found me this little guy.
Ingredients:
Chicken Baked Ziti Ingredients:
- 12 ounces ziti (or any pasta shape)
- 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (about 2 small chicken breasts)
- 1 batch alfredo sauce (see below)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- (optional toppings: additional shredded Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh parsley)
Alfredo Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup low-fat milk (I used 1%)
- 3/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
Directions:
To Make The Chicken Baked Ziti:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of well-salted boiling
according to package instructions. Drain. Return pasta to the pot
and add chicken and alfredo sauce. Gently toss to combine until the
pasta is evenly coated.
- Pour half of the pasta into a greased 11x7-inch or 9x13-inch baking
dish. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of cheese. Layer the remaining half of
the pasta evenly on top. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/2 cup of
cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and just barely
starts to turn golden. Remove and serve immediately, sprinkled with
additional toppings if desired.
To Make The Alfredo Sauce:
- Heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add
garlic and saute one minute, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
Sprinkle with flour, and stir to combine. Saute for an additional minute
to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.
- Slowly add chicken broth, whisking to combine until smooth. Whisk in
milk, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Let cook for an additional
minute until thickened, then stir in Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper
until the cheese melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
It turns out that the bed is a little tall... Our mattress is extra huge and the bed frame was already tall, so we have to take a running superman leap to get into bed, but it looks spectacular. It's a touch crammed in the small room and we somehow have to find a way to fit all of our clothes in the space when I normally take up this much room by myself... But we're excited.
