Gluten-Free Baked Chicken and Summer Squash Casserole
I love the fresh produce that is in abundance from the garden in the summer. With the tomatoes and summers squash in great supply right now I have been wanting to make a Ratatouille-inspired dish. However, since this week I have been fasting and cooking only for my husband I wanted to make it more hearty so I got experimenting and ended up with this Baked Chicken and Summer Squash Pasta that was a hit. Seriously, my husband ate leftovers of this for days – and he doesn’t do leftovers.
You can use any type of pasta noodle, gluten-free or not. I used Elbows because that is what I had but penne or rigatoni or shells would work too. If you have kids that aren’t big on veggies, chop the squash smaller and it will blend right in and they don’t even need to know it’s in there!
Gluten-Free Baked Chicken and Summer Squash Casserole
This basked pasta dish is a great way to use those veggies fresh from the garden!
Ingredients
Pasta
- 1 Cup Gluten Free Pasta
Veggies
- 1 medium zucchini chopped
- 1 medium yellow squash chopped
- 1 medium tomato Chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch salt & pepper to taste
chicken
- 1 Cup Cooked Chicken
Sauce
- 3 tbsp butter grass fed
- 3 scallions chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 tbsp Gluten Free Flour
- 1-1/2 cups almond milk
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes to taste
Optional
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Pasta
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cook to just softened, but not completely done.
Veggies
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Chop all veggies, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange on a baking sheet and roast under the broiler for about 5 mins, until they start to soften.
Chicken
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You can use rotisserie chicken or I used left over cooked chicken from a previous night that I have frozen. You can also omit for a meatless option.
Sauce
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Melt 3 TSPB grass fed butter (or vegan butter) in a large skillet. Add 3 chopped scallions (white and light green parts) and 2 cloves of minced garlic and for for 2-3 mins.
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Add 3 TBSP Gluten Free flour and mix to make a rue. Stir in in 1-1/2 cups Almond milk very slowly, whisking to combine. Be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pan.
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Let the sauce simmer for 2 mins, stirring, to let thicken slightly. Add herbs to taste. I added 1 tsp each dried basil, parsley and oregano, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.
Assemble the dish
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Turn off the heat and add pasta, chicken and veggies to the sauce. Stir to combine. I added a handful of shredded Mozzarella cheese, but you could use dairy free cheese or omit for vegan/dairy free option. Add everything to an oven safe dish, top with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese if desired. Bake in the oven 20 mins, then switch to broil from 5 mins, rotating the dish halfway through to give it a nice golden layer on the top.
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Sprinkle with fresh chopped basil and serve.
Recipe Notes
I used left over chicken breast from a previous meal of Italian Chicken with Mushrooms and Tomatoes that I had frozen. You can easily use rotisserie chicken or cook the chicken first and set aside.
Feel free to adjust herbs and seasonings to your taste.
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