Oven pasta casserole

My family's weekend meal is an oven-baked pasta casserole. A very tasty and satisfying dish, which combines healthy vegetables, flavorful mushrooms, tender chicken and, of course, pasta. All the ingredients are enveloped in the sauce. And on top of a pasta casserole, an appetizing crust is formed from melted cheese.

Ingredients:

• chicken breast or thighs - 3-4 pieces;
• hard cheese - 50-70 grams;
• champignon mushrooms - 500 grams;
• salt to taste;
• ground black pepper - to taste;
• onion - 1 piece;
• carrots — 1 piece;
• sour cream - 2-3 tablespoons;
• pasta - 400 grams;
• vegetable oil - for frying.

Oven pasta casserole. Step by step recipe

1. We put water in a deep pan, wait for it to boil, add some salt and throw the pasta.
2. Tip. To prepare pasta casseroles in the oven, you can use any type of pasta: bows (farfalle), spirals (fusilli), feathers (penne), tubules (cannelloni). The main thing is that the paste was from durum wheat - durum. Such pasta should contain at least 14% protein. For our dish, I prefer to use pennies: that is, feathers.
3. Boil the pasta for 12 minutes. Then the paste needs to be filtered through a colander. If necessary, pasta can be washed with cold boiled water and strain again.
4. In the meantime, cut the washed and peeled carrots into the floor in circles.
5. Chicken meat is cut into small pieces. You can use chicken (it is more dietetic), but I use hips - they are juicier. The skin must be separated from the meat: we do not use it.
6. Pour the vegetable oil into a heated pan and fry the carrots.
7. Peel the onions and cut into small cubes.
8. When the carrots are slightly fried, add the onions to it and fry together for a few more minutes.
9. Tip. Also, if desired, the following vegetables can be used to prepare pasta casseroles: zucchini, tomatoes, cauliflower or broccoli. If you add zucchini, you need to cut them: you can use straws or slices, slightly crush with flour and fry on all sides, then mix with pasta.
10. If you add cabbage: cauliflower or broccoli, it must be boiled in salted water for 10 minutes. Then divide into inflorescences or just cut: and only then mix with pasta.
11. As for the tomato, they must first be peeled, cut into circles and make a layer between several layers of pasta. Then the casserole with vegetables will become more juicy and will acquire a certain acidity.
12. We send chicken to vegetables and fry all together.
13. Salt a little and season with pepper.
14. We bring the meat to readiness and transfer it to a separate bowl: after filtering it from the fat on which everything was fried.
15. My mushrooms and cut into thin plates.
16. Tip. Champignons are better to choose solid, elastic, white: these are the mushrooms that can be used for cooking.
17. Fry mushrooms in fat, where they cooked chicken and vegetables for pasta casseroles.
18. Salt and pepper the fried mushrooms.
19. Tip. Mushrooms are considered ready when all the moisture has evaporated.
20. We shift the fried mushrooms to the meat.
21. Mix cooked pasta with meat and mushrooms.
22. Separately, we prepare the filling for the casserole. To do this, mix the egg with sour cream, season with salt and black pepper. Add part of the grated hard cheese and mix the dressing with pasta, vegetables and meat.
23. We shift the pasta and chicken casserole into a baking dish greased with vegetable oil.
24. Sprinkle the casserole on top with grated cheese and send to the oven, preheated to 200 degrees, until fully cooked.
25. Readiness is determined by cheese: when a golden crust is formed, the dish is ready.

This pasta casserole can be cooked without meat: just add more varied vegetables.

Oven pasta casserole is a wonderful dish, which is served hot: it can be decorated with greens on top. Ready-made casserole also looks great on the festive table.

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