Chicken Mushroom Mac

Prep time: 20 to 45 minutes | Cook time: 30 minutes to 1 hour | Servings: 4 - 6

Ingredients:
1/4 - 1/3 lb pasta, cooked & drained (leftover pasta works great for this!)
8oz sharp cheddar
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
1/4 teaspoon season salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
 dash cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion, diced
4 medium button mushrooms, sliced
1 cooked chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces (I deboned a leftover roast chicken breast, and reserved the bones for stock)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a medium sized casserole dish.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium high heat. Saute onion until translucent. Add mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes, or until starting to brown, stirring frequently.

While the mushrooms saute combine ricotta, dried mustard, season salt, pepper, and cayenne in a small bowl. Add milk and stir well.

Reserve 1/4 - 1/3 cup grated cheddar. Combine the rest of the grated cheddar, ricotta mixture, cooked pasta, mushroom mixture, and chicken. Pour into greased casserole dish and gently press down. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and mix well (be sure to stir this gently, as it will be hot!). Top with reserved grated cheddar, and bake uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.

Note: Prep and cook times vary depending on whether you have prepared chicken and pasta on hand. I would recommend this recipe for a weeknight when you've already got leftover cooked chicken in the oven and just want to snaz it up for a fast dinner. Cooking the pasta the day of is easy to do, just set the pot on to boil before you begin to heat the butter for the onions.

If you are cooking your chicken the day of several methods work. Poached chicken would probably be the best, roast chicken is a favorite of mine, and even a sauteed boneless breast would work great in this recipe!

Inspiration recipe found over at Smitten Kitchen, under Easiest Baked Mac-and-Cheese