We get a lot of emails requesting ideas for freezer meals. This is another great one to make for a Valentines Day dinner. I make a pasta dish quite often that is almost identical to this, only I use my Guiltless Alfredo sauce. It’s actually become a Valentines Day tradition for my husband and I. This version is a bit naughtier, and richer and completely delicious. And the bonus is that it makes enough for 2 pans, one to eat and one to freeze. It takes more time to make than my quick guiltless version so I like that when I put in the time to make it I get two meals out of it! It’s a creamy cheesy sauce with penne pasta, sundried tomatoes, and mushrooms. I don’t even like mushrooms and they’re fantastic here.To begin, boil penne pasta in some salted water. You’ll want to cook it just a couple minutes short of al dente. Check the back of the box and it will tell you how long to cook until the al dente stage and just knock a couple of minutes off of that.
While the pasta is boiling heat up a skillet with a little oil in it. Season your chicken with salt and pepper and then pop it in the skillet to sizzle up. It will be done in about the same amount of time as the pasta. After it cools for a minute, slice it up.
Since your skillet is already hot and oiled, toss the mushrooms in there to saute for a few minutes
Now you’ll start making the sauce. It begins with a roux. That may sound like a scary word, but it’s not, I promise. In a large pot you’ll melt some butter and then add some flour (to thicken) and some minced garlic (because everything is better with garlic)
As you whisk that together to cook you’ll add in milk and bring it to a simmer to form the sauce. Then you’ll throw in the mushrooms as some sundried tomatoes.
I seriously LOVE sundried tomatoes. Just had to get that out. Then off the heat you add in a mixture of parmesan and provolone cheeses, some salt and pepper, and your chicken. It’s that easy!
Pop it into 2 dishes. One to eat and one to freeze, or two to freeze, or two to eat. You’re the boss, you pick.
If your going to eat one now, then sprinkle more cheese on top. If you’re going to freeze it, then put it in a baggie.
To eat immediately, just bake it for about 25 minutes so all of the flavors melt together and the cheese gets all bubbly
Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne
slightly adapted from this recipe by Martha Stewart
- 6 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dishes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 pound penne rigate
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 8 ounces each), halved horizontally
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
- 6 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 6 cups whole milk
- 10 ounces white or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
- 1 cup sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
- 1 1/2 cups shredded provolone* (6 ounces) you could also make that 1/2 mozzarella
- 1 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 6 ounces)
*Note on Cheese:
Sometimes provolone cheese can be hard to find. I don’t always encourage the use of pre-shredded bagged cheeses (because ‘ve found they usually contain additives and therefore don’t melt or taste as good), but in this recipe I’ve used a *good* quality one, like Sargento, and it’s turned out great. Actually in this batch I used Sargento’s Provolone/Mozzarella mix. You’ll find that with packaged cheese mixes, provolone is often mixed with other white cheeses and that’s totally fine. Just try to find one that is mostly provolone, like a 50/50 mix. The other easy option is to go to the deli department where you can buy sliced cheese. Just ask for a 6 oz chunk and you can grate it yourself.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400. Butter two shallow 2-quart baking dishes. If you’re going to freeze one, use a disposable foil pan. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta 3 minutes short of al dente; drain pasta and set aside.
- While pasta is boiling, heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper; cook until opaque throughout, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Halve each piece lengthwise, then thinly slice crosswise. While chicken pan is still hot, toss the mushrooms in and saute until golden brown (3-4 minutes). Use a little extra olive oil if needed.
- In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot (I just use the pot I cooked my pasta in), melt butter over medium. Add flour and garlic; cook, whisking, 1 minute. While whisking constantly, gradually add milk; bring to a simmer. Keep whisking frequently as sauce thickens, about 1 minute more. Add mushrooms and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. take the pan off the heat and and gradually stir in provolone and 1/2 cup Parmesan.
- Add chicken and pasta to pot; season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide pasta mixture between baking dishes. If freezing, place remaining parmesan cheese in a zip-top baggie. If cooking, sprinkle on top.
- Bake, uncovered, until top is golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Freezer instructions:
To freeze, prepare through step 4 and then let pasta cool. Cover pan well with plastic wrap. Place extra cheese in baggie (for topping) on top and then cover entire pan well with foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, preheat oven to 400. Remove foil and plastic from pan and set cheese baggie aside. Place foil back on pan and bake for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove foil, stir pasta, and top with cheese. Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until mixture is hot and bubbly throughout.
We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine”s day! Make sure to tell all of your loved ones that you love them! (Oh, and eat lots of chocolate 🙂
Questions & Reviews
Follow up on the question re substitution for oil-packed tomatoes: I got some dry sun-dried tomatoes, poured boiling water over them, and then tossed them with a little olive oil and let them sit for about an hour. They worked great! I LOVE this recipe, and so do my husband and my 2 year-old son! He always asks for seconds…thirds… :o)
I made this, it was seriously gross. I’ve made alredo pastas before, and making it with flour? It was gross. And now I have some in my freezer that I have no idea what to do with. Would NOT recommend this to anyone!
Brianne, most white sauces are made with flour, it’s a basic (and very common) cooking process known as a roux. The taste of the flour isn’t even noticeable if the roux is cooked properly, so I suspect you perhaps made an error in the recipe. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love this dish, so I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it!
Hi Ladies! Found your blogsite off a sister in the ward’s FB page and have to say I LOVE it. Love that the food is diverse and that the recipes are well written and simple to follow for the average cook (moi!). I’m planning on taking this pasta dish to a ward potluck because can freeze ahead. Wish me luck.
P.S. I even like your craft ideas. There is hope for me yet. 🙂
Made this last night and it was great! Thanks for a tasty recipe!
I second the question about using sun-dried tomatoes that aren’t packed in oil. The oil-packed ones are pretty expensive, so I’m wondering if there’s a way to make it more economical.
You can certainly experiment with substitutions, but I think it’s best with oil-packed.
I made this tonight and everyone loved it. I used 1% milk and it was fabulous. Plenty rich and creamy. Nice bonus to have an extra batch in the freezer, too.
I love this! Freezes amazingly well!
I’m re-naming this “If Loving You is Wrong I Don’t Want to Be Right Pasta.” SO good! And, an added bonus, all my kids loved it – even my picky 2 year-old!
This looks absolutely delicious! I bet some wilted baby spinach would be divine in this as well (maybe thrown in after the mushrooms?).
You have my lifelong adoration for your chicken taquito recipe with creamy lime-cilantro dressing for the dip. To. Die. For.
Just want to confirm that you only need one box of pasta for two dishes (one to eat now and one to freeze later)? Please confirm…thanks!
Yes, the recipe is correct as written 🙂
Another successful meal. My entire family gobbled it up. You ladies are awesome…keep the recipes coming!!!
this is a martha stewart recipe! copiers!!
Natalie, we take citing sources very seriously. We clearly credited Martha in this recipe, so please look a little more carefully before name-calling.
Just made this tonight and everyone loved it! My 2 year old exclaimed “yummy!” “I lub it!” and “more, more” throughout dinner. 🙂
Made it last night and entire fam loved it – including husband who doesn’t like mushrooms. I made 2 healthy changes and it was still fabulous: used whole wheat pasta, and I used skim milk instead of whole. It was great!
I made this today with artichoke hearts instead of sun dried tomatoes, and it was amazing! Thanks!
Tried it and loved it! It made enough for my family, our neighbors family, and I froze an 8×8 pan for later!
A friend of mine recently referred me to your website and I LOVE it. I tried this recipe yesterday and modified it just a bit – I made it with half white sauce and half red sauce (just split your white sauce recipe in half) and it was delicious! thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
This dish is so easy and FAST to make. My husband LOVED it. I opted to leave out the mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes (because my family hates these two vegies) and it was still delicious. Thanks for the great recipe.
I was so happy to run across your website a couple days ago! I made this last night and used pimientos del piquillo (roasted red peppers) instead of sun dried tomatoes and the roasted red peppers tasted great too! I am living in Spain and I have two Italian roommates and one Spanish roommate. They are always interested to see what the American is cooking:) Last night I asked if they wanted to eat what I was making and they said sure…they loved it! 🙂 I loved it too…and I have my extra pan in the freezer for when I want to break that out.
That looks fantastic. Super easy. I tried the drop down list for "Freezer Meals" and it says there are no posts with that tag. Just an FYI
Can you use sun dried tomatoes that aren't oil packed?
No, not a misprint. You're making a sauce!
six cups of milk? is that a misprint?
Most things work great from frozen, and it's super convenient. Trust us- we wouldn't write it out in the directions if it didn't work well!
Thanks Sara. In general do you find you have better results baking dishes frozen or thawing in the fridge overnight first? As you can tell I'm freezer frightened. I usually do fresh service but some clients request frozen so I'm trying to learn all I can.
DinnerCravings- yup, it's correct as written. When frozen solid it takes quite a while to thaw out! If you're baking it thawed, just use the non-frozen directions. Increase time if the dish is chilled, and decrease if it's in individual servings. Keep in mind you're not cooking anything here, you're just heating it through, so you can eyeball it.
Do you bake this dish frozen? 1 1/2 hours at 400 seems like a long time. what baking time do you suggest for thawed out dish in individual servings?
Thanks so much
Karen
Glenda, I've never tried it with lowfat milk, but I bet it would work just fine. If you try it, let us know!
Do you have to use whole milk? What about using 1%?
I LOVE this recipe! I just featured it on my blog: http://ificould-ificould.blogspot.com/2010/03/baked-chicken-penne.html
If you want to grab a button saying you were featured, go to http://ificould-ificould.blogspot.com/p/featured-sites.html
Thanks for a great recipe!
Missy