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
I just made this to freeze, but I was wondering how long it would keep if I stuck one of the dishes in the fridge?
Thank you for sharing this recipe it was a hit with my very picky husband which is truly a compliment! I’ll be making it in the future for sure. I just tweaked it a bit and quartered fresh cherry tomatoes in place of the sundried tomatoes. Also, I chopped up some fresh oregano and mixed these two ingredients into the pasta mix just before baking.
my print button is not available, is that on my end or yours??
Probably ours! We’re looking into it 🙂
If you’re making this with the guiltless Alfredo sauce do you need to double the guiltless recipe or will it make enough to cover the 1 lb of pasta and bake correctly? Thanks!
I just came across this recipe and it looks so yummy. I can’t wait to try it! It would be a perfect meal to make for yourself and to have on hand for when a friend in need may need a break from cooking. Thank you!
for those having trouble with the sauce being too thin, or tasting floury – it might be b/c you are not cooking the butter/flour long enough. I sometimes even cook it for 2 minutes, just to be safe. Just stir like crazy during this process, and when adding milk – very, very slowly.
I will be trying this recipe soon – looks great.
Made it tonight, yummy!! I did have to add a lot of pepper and salt though, because it tasted a little too floury, but it was a hit! I loved being able to make 2 dishes in one, one for us and one for a friend. I will make it again for sure!! thanks.
I made this today. My family loved it! I subbed roasted peppers for the tomatoes because I didn’t want to spend $6.57 for a jar! Instead of putting the other one in he freezer I gave it to a friend who just had an emergency c-section. I loved being able to make two dinners at the same time without too much headache.
We made BATCHES and BATCHES of this for my brothers rehearsal dinner last summer. IT was the hit of the dinner!
Somehow, I didn’t put it in my dinner rotation and now that we are expecting baby #3 this summer, I remembered it! Making one for dinner tonight and one for the freezer for ease when the baby comes! It is delicious!
Please help me I’m not sure what I am doing wrong! I’ve made this dish 2 times now because we LOVE the flavor. The only thing is I can never get my sauce to thicken? The first time I did it I thought I must have done something wrong so I tired it again because we thought it tasted so good. But the second time the same thing happened? When I pour it into the dish to bake, it is soup… nothing is sticking to the pasta! I cook my roux for about a min until it clumps all together then add my milk??? I hope you can help me because I really want to make this dish right. Thanks!
Raquel, if your roux is lumpy it might be holding up the flour you need for thickening. Try adding the milk just a little bit at a time, while whisking vigorously. If it’s still lumpy you may want to pop the sauce in a blender. Once it’s smooth, bring it up to a simmer and let it thicken. You might not be cooking it long enough- hope that helps!