Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted by Dave Kessler  

 

The holiday season has been a busy time in every home, and the new year may be for you, as well. You need to plan your time to get everything accomplished and you can help yourself by planning your cooking time around a good casserole.

This casserole is a humdinger when it comes to a tasty meal everyone can enjoy. It’s also a humdinger in efficient use of time, since so much of it is quick to prepare and put together.

You may need to double this recipe if you’re serving a lot of folks. I usually double it just because I like it as a leftover meal for a day or two. (Here’s a confession: I have been known to put a leftover serving cold from the refrigerator on a plate and use it as a cold snack when watching football games.)

This casserole is made using pasta in the dish. Someday I plan to omit the pasta and heat up a pizza dough shell; I think this should make a cracking good pizza.

Chicken, Bacon

& Ranch Casserole

1 pound bacon fried until slightly crispy, then crumbled; reserve 1 tablespoon bacon grease

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons Ranch seasoning

1 bell pepper, seeds removed and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jar mushrooms caps or pieces, drained

1 pound of your favorite kind of pasta, cooked and drained (fold in some olive oil so it won’t get sticky)

2 jars Alfredo sauce

1/3 cup milk

3 Roma tomatoes, diced

4 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

Fry the bacon until just crispy. Remove from skillet and crumble. Save a tablespoon of  bacon grease in the skillet.

Cut the chicken into small-size pieces and dip it into the Ranch seasoning. Sauté in the skillet with the 1 tablespoon of bacon grease, the bell pepper, garlic and mushrooms.

When chicken is cooked, drain liquid from skillet and return chicken and vegetables to the skillet. Pour one jar of the Alfredo sauce and the milk into the skillet and stir in 1 teaspoon of Ranch seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes or so.

Boil the pasta until al dente and drain. Pour one half of the remaining Alfredo sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish. Layer 1/3 of the pasta, chicken sauce and tomatoes on it. Use one-quarter of the fried bacon crumbles. Spread on 1 cup of the cheese.

Make two more layers; make the final layer using cheese, Alfredo sauce and remaining bacon crumbles. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

Readers with questions or comments for Dave Kessler may write to him in care of this publication.