penne rustica

recipe and photo found here

Look at me! 2 posts in 1 day! I had to share this with you, I am just popping it into the oven for dinner and it is so yummy! Warning though, the recipe is HUGE!I made a few changes(in brackets) to suit our family's taste and what I had on hand. It took some time to prepare all the steps, but I probably ended up with at least 4 meals for our family.

Ingredients:

12 oz. grilled chicken breast (marinate in olive oil and garlic salt overnight, then grill on barbecue for best flavor)-{rotisserie chickens are my best friend}

½ pack thick bacon-{used whole package, who doesn't like more bacon?}

48 oz. (3 boxes) penne pasta-{I used rotini}

2 large red bell peppers- diced-{I used 4, I don't want to cook a separate vegetable, do you?}

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

½ tsp paprika
Gratinata Sauce:

2 tsp butter

2 tsp chopped garlic

1 cup marsala wine OR 1/3 cup apple juice + 2 tbsp red wine vinegar +enough chicken broth to equal 1 cup

1 tsp dijon or dry mustard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chopped rosemary

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

8 cups heavy cream-{I used 4c.cream and 4c. half & half}
Directions:

Saute garlic in butter in large pan. Add marsala wine, mustard, salt, rosemary, cayenne pepper, and heavy cream.Cook pasta according to directions. Cook bacon. Slice chicken into medium-bite size pieces.Combine sauce, cooked pasta, diced chicken, cooked bacon, bell peppers, parmesan cheese, and paprika and mix thoroughly. Spread in pans. Top with chopped rosemary and mozzarella cheese.
Bake @ 475 for 10 minutes. If frozen, thaw in refrigerator the day of. Cover with foil and bake @ 375 for 1 hour. Remove foil during the last 15 minutes.

Number Of Servings: Yields one 8×8 and two 9×13 casserole dishes.

Preparation Time: More than an hour