Easy Baked Chicken and Pasta

Easy Baked Chicken and Pasta (adapted from Giada)

It's time for IHCC's monthly Mystery Box Madness Challenge again! This exciting challenge started in November 2014 and we're entering the ninth month this month! :)

Modus operandi is the same: we can choose a dish from one of IHCC's twelve chefs. This time round, the chosen dish must contain at least three of these mystery ingredients: chicken, seaweed, sesame seeds, parsley, mozzarella cheese, pasta, mango, brown sugar, zucchini, mint.

Lovely ingredients! I'm drawn to the combination of chicken, cheese, and pasta. True enough! Giada has a recipe called Italian Baked Chicken and Pasta with these three mystery ingredients: chicken, mozzarella cheese, pasta.

Recipe adapted from Giada's Italian Baked Chicken and Pasta.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

1 cup small pasta (I used short tube pasta)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter an 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish (I used a glass baking dish).

2. Fill up a medium pot with salted water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook until just tender, about 5-6 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

3. Heat up oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add chicken breast cubes and cook for 3 minutes. Add onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken breast cubes are cooked through. Add mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes until mushrooms look soft.

4. Remove from heat and put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add mozzarella, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture into the buttered baking dish.

5. In a small bowl, mix together breadcrumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle over the top of the chicken and pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.