The base of this pasta dish is a homemade white cream sauce also known as Alfredo sauce. The sauce becomes creamy and clings to the noodles as it bakes and the mozzarella cheese melts right on top of the entire dish and it’s just pure awesome-ness. Mmm. Making the sauce from scratch is just so much better than the jarred stuff. And pro tip: using freshly grated Parmesan cheese right from the block is essential to a smooth, rich, creamy sauce! This meal can really be thrown together in a breeze especially with some minimal prepping. Take any leftover cooked chicken and dice it up. Pre cook the pasta and broccoli and then all you have to do when you’re ready to make dinner is whip up the Alfredo sauce, toss it all together and bake. Easy weeknight dinner problems solved! I’m pretty much always in the mood for a pasta casserole dish like this one. I’m also obsessed with this Back Pocket Baked Meatballs & Pasta, my Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Shells, and Cream Cheese Pasta Bake. YUM!!
Pasta: We love this chicken Alfredo pasta bake with Mezzi Rigatoni, but you can use 1lb. of your favorite pasta. (Penne, Ziti, Shells, Farfalle, Fussili etc.) Broccoli: To streamline the process, the broccoli gets boiled with the pasta in the same pot during the last 3 minutes of the pastas cook time. The broccoli becomes perfectly tender and then you simply drain the noodles and broccoli at the same time.
Chicken: 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and diced into small bite sized pieces. This chicken Alfredo pasta is great if you have leftover chicken since you can just toss it right into the pasta casserole! Flour & Butter: needed for making the béchamel Sauce (white sauce/Alfredo sauce). You will cook the flour and butter to make a roux. Milk: I use whole milk. This is needed for the sauce.
Seasonings: salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic Parmesan cheese: Using freshly grated Parmesan from the block is best. Using the powdered cheese will leave a grainy texture in the sauce and doesn’t melt nicely. Mozzarella cheese: this is the finishing touch before it gets baked! Freshly shredded mozzarella is best (not the pre-shredded stuff).
