Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

The Seattle Sister In Law was over last night for a much needed night of scrapbooking.  Each time she comes over she's a guinea pig.  She never knows what I'm going to put in front of her, but so far everything I have, she's liked and eaten.

This is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe.  Her recipes are hit or miss with me. This one hit.  The house smelled fantastic while it was baking. 

I made a few small changes and I noted them below. Enjoy

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina
Serves 4

• 1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta) - one cup didn't look like enough, so I made two cups
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes) - I think I had two breasts in mine and it was just right
• 1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced - yah right. unless that clove is the size of Kansas. I used about 3 medium cloves
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice - all I had in the cabinet was the Italian diced; I think it worked well
• 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

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta 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 sauté pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. 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, 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.