Chicken Parmesan Bake

This is a twist on a classic italian dish – Chicken parmesan. The twist is that it is healthy! The chicken is not breaded and fried, instead is ground up and treated as ground chuck – sauteed until browned in a pan. Essentially I made a meat sauce, but with chicken. And, since chicken parmesan is traditionally paired with pasta, I made it into a (whole wheat) pasta bake! I love bakes because they are perfect for weeknight meals along with a salad and is great re-heated the next day. And the next. And the next! The sauce is made up of tomato paste, fresh garlic, oregano, and thyme. Oh, and I was out of parmesan for the top but used mozzarella throughout.

Chicken Parmesan Bake

1 lb ground chicken

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 12oz can tomato paste

1 cup water

1 cup milk

4 tablespoons chicken broth

1/2 tablespoon oregano

1/2 tablespoon thyme

8 oz pasta, rotini or penne will work

2 cups mozzarella, shredded 

1 tablespoon breadcrumbs (optional)

1 Heat pan over medium heat with some olive oil. Cook diced onion until softened. Then, mix in minced garlic.

2 Place ground chicken into same pan and break up with back of wooden spoon. Cook until no longer pink.

3 Pour tomato paste, milk, water, broth into pan and stir. Mix in thyme and oregano.

4 While sauce is simmering, boil water for pasta and cook until al dente- about 12 minutes.

5 Prepare a casserole dish and layer as follows: Half of pasta, half of cheese, half of sauce, then continue in that order again. Top with breadcrumbs and bake in oven for about 25 minutes or until cheese is gooey and melted and heated through. How easy is that?!