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Tuesday, January 19, 2016

What's For Dinner: CHICKEN BACON RANCH CASSEROLE

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 slices bacon, diced
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs*, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon Ranch Seasoning and Salad Dressing Mix, or more, to taste
  • 8 ounces rotini
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

FOR THE ALFREDO SAUCE

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup heavy cream, or more, to taste
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9×9 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
  2. To make the alfredo sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Gradually whisk in heavy cream. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more heavy cream as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
  3. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Drain excess fat; reserving 1 tablespoon in the skillet. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
  4. In a gallon size Ziploc bag, add chicken, 1 tablespoon olive oil and Ranch Seasoning, shaking to coat thoroughly. Add chicken to the skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 2-3 minutes on each side; set aside.
  5. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
  6. Add pasta to the prepared baking dish and layer with chicken and alfredo sauce; sprinkle with cheeses and bacon. Place into oven and bake until bubbly and heated through, about 15-20 minutes.
  7. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not every dish has to have meat and cheese in it - my goodness I hope you don't eat like that on a daily basis.

Anonymous said...

Yes... Yes it does.

Anonymous said...

1:39
My goodness could you be any more rude? If you don't like the item go find your own. If you want something different send it to Joe Im sure he would post it. Until then just keep your rudeness to yourself.

Anonymous said...

Some of these daily recipes sound pretty good. Is there any print function that will allow me to get copies of the ones I want to try?

Anonymous said...

1:39 I've studied extensively the eating habits of the Old Order Amish. Meats and cheeses are a stable in their diets so to speak. Meats are often eaten at all 3 meals and cheese if not eaten daily is almost consumed daily. Lard and bacon fat are used regularly and a bowl of strawberries isn't complete without a ton of sugar mixed in. With this in mind their incidences of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer etc etc are low to us "English." By all accounts most Amish should be dead by the time they are 40 but they usually go on to live long mostly healthy lives. This has been attributed to 2 things: More active and they don't buy a lot of over processed foods or factory farmed meats.

SbyNews_Staff said...

2:28
You can just copy and paste the text into notepad and print it from there. If it is a video you can click on the title of the post and save the page to your favorites list so that you can easily find it later. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

2:33 how are the high blood pressure and cholesterol lowering drugs working out for?

Anonymous said...

2:28 Thanks - it worked perfectly - now I have a new recipe to try! Really enjoy this new feature of Salisbury News.

Anonymous said...

LOL 3:00. I don't have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. BP a bit low and other normal. I'm a 54 year old woman with no health problems at all. I'm 5'3" 115lbs so not overweight at all. I can't remember the last time I caught a cold. I take no medicines other than the occasional ibuprofen for minor aches and pains. I had no clue I was even going through menopause, no hot flashes mood swings anything. The only sign of age I am noticing is my eyes and I now have to wear reading glasses to read. Oh and I have all my teeth too!

Anonymous said...

1:50 I agree.

Anonymous said...

I like your recipes Joe.. they have pig in them.

Anonymous said...

My dishes only have a max of 4 ingredients.Quick and easy.