What's Cookin'? -Baked Penne with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

It's a keeper!

I found this recipe on Pinterest - it's from Martha Stewart. I posted a picture of the ingredients on Facebook right before I started cooking, in hopes of it being a good one. We all agreed that it was a "keeper" (even though my younger son picked out the mushrooms and tomatoes!) I added a bit of fresh parsley before baking it because it needed some color. In my opinion, you can never go wrong by adding fresh parsley! I also added a handful of breadcrumbs (which the recipe didn't call for either) during the last 5 minute of baking. End result? Delicioso!

Here's what you need:

12 oz. penne pasta
2 chicken breasts
Olive oil (about 2 T or enough to coat the bottom of your fry pan)
4 T butter, plus extra to grease pan
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup flour
3 c milk
8 oz. fresh mushrooms. sliced
1/2 c. sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil (drained and sliced)
3 oz. shredded provolone cheese
1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
fresh parsley (handful)
bread crumbs (handful)
salt and pepper

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Grease a 9x13" pan with butter.

3.  Cook pasta about 3 minutes she of al dente. Drain and set aside.

4.  Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in olive oil over medium heat until opaque (about 5        min. each side)

5.  Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise, then slice thinly. Set aside.

6.  Melt half stick of butter in a large pot/dutch oven. Add garlic, stir, cook 1 minute.

7.  Add flour and stir constantly for 1 minute, until incorporated with butter and garlic.

8.  Add milk a little at a time, whisking as you keep adding milk. Whisk constantly - all flour lumps        should be gone (you're making a sauce). Keep whisking so that the milk doesn't scorch. It              will begin to thicken and simmer - this takes about 5 minutes.

9.  When sauce is simmering, add mushrooms and tomatoes. Stir. Cook 1 minute.

10.  Remove from heat. Add provolone and half of the Parmesan. Stir.

11.  Add chicken and pasta to pot. Stir.

12.  Transfer to baking dish. Sprinkle with parsley and remaining Parmesan.

13.  Bake 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle with bread crumbs.Bake 5 minutes more.

14.  Let sit 5 minutes before serving.