Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

Description

Super, super easy...I think it was in the oven in like 10 minutes and then cooked for like 20 minutes. So fast and easy!

Ingredients

1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)

1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta (I used shells b/c that's what I had on hand) and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl. Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes (I boiled the chicken first and just chopped it up but I didn't read the directions). Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley (I used bottles and less of it), salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. I cooked for 30 minutes but should have cooked less time b/c the noodles on top got kinda hard.

This is a Giada recipe.