Cheesy Chicken Parmesan Skillet

I made a really basic marinara sauce last week to go with some meatballs, and I still had a good amount of sauce left yesterday. Not wanting it to go to waste, I decided to throw together something I have never done before, a pasta skillet version of chicken parm. The idea came to me when I saw a recipe for chicken parmesan soup online, and it just got into my head that I wanted to do some sort of take on that. I looked up a few versions of this recipe, but for the most part I pretty much just winged it. I do have to say though, this came out pretty damn good. So good in fact, I think I will make this again some day. The only thing I will probably do differently is cook the pasta to al dente separately then combine it with the other ingredients at the end. The pasta did break down a little bit from being cooked in the sauce and stirred. Other than that, this was a total win. The cheese blend was great, and the addition of the ricotta made it that much better.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• 4 cups of water
• 1 box (16oz) dried rigatoni pasta
• olive oil
• 1 (10oz) can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 3 minced cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 cups of ricotta
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

First we want to make our shredded chicken, we need 1 cup of the chicken broth from this to proceed with the rest of the recipe. Throw the chicken in a pot with approximately 3 cups water (just enough to cover the chicken). Add in the 3 bouillon cubes, cover and cook over medium/ high heat for about 15 minutes. Until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle. Remove the chicken from the pot, set aside to cool. Keep the chicken broth aside too.

Heat a large oven safe skillet over medium high heat, once it heats up add in some olive oil. Add oregano, red pepper, garlic powder and garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes until the garlic gets fragrant.

Stir in the tomato sauce, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of chicken broth and the pasta. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes- until the pasta is tender.

Take the cooled chicken and shred it by hand.

In a small bowl mix the ricotta, egg yolk and a little salt and pepper together.

Once the pasta is tender, stir in the ricotta, shredded chicken, 1/4 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Make sure everything is combined well. Top with remaining 1/4 mozz and 1/2 parm cheese on top. 

Broil in the oven for 2-5 minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbly.

All and all not bad for the first time trying this. I would try cooking the pasta separately though because it did fall apart, and didn't hold up well for leftovers today. The flavor was there though, and the shredded chicken was perfect and tender in this dish. Cheers!

Ollie eating his corn first 

Maxx digging in

Adapted from: chicken parm skillet