When you want a fast and easy meal that also tastes dynamite – this should be one of the first recipes you think of.
It reminds me of Fazoli’s Twice Baked Ziti (which I’m not sure they have anymore – are there even Fazoli’s around anymore?)
This is a perfect dish for a college student or busy mom, it doesn’t take a whole lot to create a dish that has a lot of flavor and satisfies a crowd.
I also make this a healthier way, so it’s not awful for you either – SCORE!
Twice Baked Chicken Ziti
Yield: 4
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Adapted from Gimme Some Oven
Ingredients
- 25 oz your choice of spaghetti sauce (I picked an organic 4 cheese blend)
- 1 lb or so chicken breasts - marinated in pesto sauce (the market has these usually or you can make your own pesto marinade).
- 2 tbsp olive Oil
- 4 cremini mushrooms - diced
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 package of penne pasta (Made in Italy is best)
- Spash of Wine (your pick)
- 1/3 cup Parmesan or Asiago cheese
- 1 cup shredded skim low-fat mozzarella cheese
- 2 tsp Creole Seasoning
- 1 tsp Lowry's Seasoning Salt
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Season your chicken with the 2 tsp Creole Seasoning and 1 tsp Lowry Seasoning Salt (this is on top of the pesto it was marinated in). You can season the chicken with whatever you like, I personally like a little spice to mine so I picked Creole Seasoning. But you should choose your favorite, whatever that is.
- In a heavy pot on the stovetop, pour in 2 tbsp of olive oil and brown the chicken on Med-High heat, about 5 minutes on each side. When cooked, take out and set on a plate. Cut into little bite-size pieces.
- With the remaining brown stuff and oil in the pan, lower the heat to med/low and add the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute, then add the sliced mushrooms to the pan and scrape up the brown skin off the bottom.
- Add a splash of wine. Simmer until cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Add the pasta sauce and stir, bringing to a boil.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a separate container, get water to a boil for your pasta. Once boiling, add some salt and then pasta - cook for 10 minutes until Al Dente.
- After 10 minutes, drain pasta and set to the side. Do not rinse.
- Once pasta sauce and mushroom/garlic combo is boiling, add cut up chicken to mix. Cook for a few minutes until boiling again.
- Add drained pasta to pasta sauce/chicken mix.
- Stir and mix the pasta sauce, pasta, and chicken while it is heating up.
- Once heated through, turn off stove. Salt & pepper if needed.
- Put half of pasta mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle half of the mozzarella and Parmesan/Asiago cheese over that half.
- Repeat this for the second layer/rest of pasta.
- Cook pasta dish for 20 minutes in oven, uncovered, until cheese is browned and bubbly.
- Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 683Total Fat 31gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 131mgSodium 2482mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 5gSugar 16gProtein 56g
This nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although alteredrecipe.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
