Description
This recipe was born out of my need to use up some things from my freezer- chopped chicken meat and homemade basil pesto. It's easy, tasty, and can be made ahead. If you want to make a one dish meal out of this, toss in a 10 ounce bag of thawed frozen vegetables. I used homemade stock as well, but canned will work fine.
Ingredients
- Penne Pasta
- Chicken
- Pesto Sauce
- Butter
- Flour
- Chicken Stock
- Chicken Bouillon Cube
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemon Juice
- Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta to just short of al dente
- Drain the pasta, and place in a large mixing bowl
- Add the chopped chicken and pesto to the bowl, and stir to coat
- If adding vegetables, add them to the bowl now
- Preheat the oven to 350f
- Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat
- Add the flour, and whisk to form a roux
- Cook for 2-3 minutes
- Slowly whisk the stock into the roux
- Bring to a boil, and contiue to whisk until the sauce is slightly thickened
- Crumble the boullion cube, and add to the sauce
- Stir in the lemon juice
- Taste the sauce for seasoning, and add salt or pepper as needed
- Add the sauce to the chicken and pasta mixture
- Stir to combine well, then place the mixture in the prebared baking dish
- Top with the grated cheese
- If making ahead, cover at this point and chill until needed
- Bake at 350f for 20-25 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the top is golden
- If made ahead, the baking time may need to be increased