Rebecca Nielsen's Recipe

Chicken Asparagus Noodle Cassarole

Category: Casseroles

Serves/Makes: 6
Difficulty Level: 2
Total Prep/Cook Time: 1 hour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients:
1/2 pound or 1/2 box of your favorite noodle (I use mini fusilli)
Kosher salt
2 cups fresh asparagus cut into 2 in. pieces
2 T Olive Oil
1 med onion med chop
2 stalks celery med chop
1 1/2 c cooked chicken in med to large bites
2 t finely chopped rosemary
1 c good chicken stock (homemade if possible)
freshly ground black pepper
3/4 c sour cream
3/4 c mascarpone cheese
1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg
1 c grated cheese (I used Robusto, but you could use peccorino romano or gruyere)
1 T finely chopped parsely

Directions:

Spray a 9 x 9 inch glass baking dish with vegetable spray.

Bring pot of water to boil, add 3 T kosher salt. Cook noodles only 5 minutes. They will finish cooking in the oven. Drain noodles into collander placed over a large bowl. Put water back in pan and return to boil. Add asparagus and boil for 2 minutes. Set noodles and asparagus aside.

In large skillet heat olive oil and add onion and celery, sautee til softened (about 5 minutes). Add chicken and chicken stock, stir an additional minute. Turn heat to low.

Add sour cream, mascarpone cheese, rosemary and nutmeg. Simmer for 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

In greased baking pan put 1/2 the chicken mixture on bottom then layer noodles then asparagus and 1/2 c of the grated cheese. Pour rest of chicken mixture on top and top that with rest of cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Top with finely chopped parsley and serve.

Cooks Notes: This is not a creamy dish like a macarroni and cheese dish. Because the noodles are undercooked before baking they soak up the liquid in the chicken mixture so it seems like the sauce dissapears, but its all in the noodles and is delicious. By using mascarpone cheese instead of all sour cream it makes it very creamy. Sour cream heated up tends to separate and make the dish watery.