Mac and really good cheese with chicken and rosemary

 

 OK, so it's really just chicken noodle casserole, or in Minnesota parlance, hotdish. But it's made with really tasty cheese and rosemary, and the garlic that all casseroles of my childhood sadly lacked. And no cans were harmed in making the sauce that binds it all together.

Baked macaroni and cheese with roast chicken, smoked mozzarella and rosemary

Adapted from “A Bird in the Oven and Then Some” by Mindy Fox. This book is far more than just being about how to roast chicken, and a great source of recipes for what to do with already cooked chicken you have on hand. Plus lots of likely looking side dishes I have yet to try.

Ingredients

½ pound penne pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1½ cups grated smoked mozzarella

1½ cups shredded cooked chicken

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

2½ cups whole milk

2 garlic cloves
1½ teaspoons salt, plus a pinch more

Method

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 3-quart gratin or baking dish. (The original recipe called for a 1½ quart dish. I have no clue how on earth that could possibly work.)

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until just barely al dente, keeping in mind that it will get further cooking in the oven. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and a pinch of sea salt. Cook until softened and light golden, stirring as needed. Add to pasta in the bowl.

Add mozzarella, chicken, rosemary and ⅔ cup of Parmesan and stir to combine.

Heat milk to a simmer. In a medium-size heavy saucepan, heat butter over medium low heat until melted. Stir in flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly, until mixture has turned golden. Slowly whisk in milk, adding in a steady stream. Add garlic and salt and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring very frequently. Add several grinds of black pepper and stir mixture into bowl with other ingredients.

Pour into prepared baking dish, smoothing top so random ends of pasta aren’t sticking up to get too crispy. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese and more grinds of pepper. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden and bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before serving. I'd say this serves 6 adults without being at all skimpy.

Rating: My threshold for baked pasta dishes is pretty high, because let's face it, they usually involve two more steps and two more pans to wash than just making an unbaked pasta dish with the same ingredients. Usually their only advantage is they can be made ahead and baked later. This one is pretty tasty, with good cheese and the booster shot of rosemary flavor, and the Parmesan cheese on top gets crunchy, and crunchy Parmesan cheese is just good stuff. So I'd say this was pretty close to worth all the extra hoopla, and certainly worthwhile if one needs to make a casserole to say, make a small dent in the packets of cooked chicken lurking in one's freezer.