Soul Casserole
INGREDIENTS
  • Cooking Time: 30 minutes
  • Servings: 4
  • Preparation Time: 10 minutes
  • 1 heaping cup of pre-cooked chicken (I used a store bought rotisserie chicken)
  • 1 heaping cup of egg noodles
  • 1 heaping cup of sliced zucchini, quartered (about 1 smallish zucchini) and cooked (boiled, steam, sauteed...whatever)
  • 1 heaping cup of bite sized tomato cups (about 1 medium tomato)
  • 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1/2 cup butter, divided
  • 1/4 cup or so, pasta water
  • 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
  1. Preheat your oven to 350' F
  2. Spray an 8x8 casserole dish with cooking spray (more of a precautionary thing than a necessity)
  3. Cook the egg noodles according to package instructions. Drain, saving the pasta water. Do not rinse the pasta (you want the starch. It helps to thicken the sauce)
  4. In a medium bowl, while the pasta is still hot, combine the pasta, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup of butter. Stir until butter is melted. Stir in the pasta water along with the garlic powder, salt and pepper until you have a "runny" sauce. The pasta will probably soak up some of the sauce and it will thicken as the dish cools after cooking.
  5. Toss in the chicken, zucchini and tomatoes and toss
  6. Pour into your prepared 8x8 dish. Melt the other 1/4 cup of butter and combine with the bread crumbs. Crumble them evenly over the pasta. Then sprinkle 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese on top.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly, melty and you know....yummy. Let rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
RECIPE BACKSTORY
This is a recipe that was developed after a near sleepless night. And I love it! The alfredo sauce is the star. The ingredients are simple. The flavors are direct.