Oven Pasta Bake: chicken, radicchio, mushrooms, & fontina

On Sundays at my house, we eat dinner early so we can get ready for the week ahead.  I like to make this in the afternoon, and set it out with plates and silverware in the kitchen--it can be eaten as a late lunch and again later if you're still hungry.  We serve ourselves, and everyone eats when they want to.  It also comes together quickly so it's a great weeknight meal.

The variations on this are endless.  If you want to be totally decadent, you can add crumbled blue cheese when you mix it before baking, but it's so rich I only do it when we're eating it with other dishes. I've also substituted peas and cooked bacon for the spinach and chicken, and found that it's an excellent side dish if you leave out the chicken entirely.  In every way, it's good with a dry white wine :)

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WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 lb. box of pasta (bowtie or ziti rigate), cooked and set aside 

2 small heads radicchio, sliced in ribbons like you would for coleslaw

1 lb. mushrooms, sliced

1 jar of your favorite alfredo sauce

fontina cheese, grated (approx 2 cups)

parmesan cheese (the green can is fine for this)

1 bag fresh spinach

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken broth

approx 3 tablespoons butter, plus more for the pan

the breast of one whole rotisserie chicken, shredded

salt/pepper/garlic powder

9x13 baking pan (if you have one of those aluminum disposable ones, even better)

shredded radicchio

Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter your baking pan.

In a deep-sided skillet, saute mushrooms, spinach, and radicchio in butter until mushrooms are browned and vegetables are wilted a little.  Add alfredo sauce and mix.  Add some white wine and chicken broth to the jar, cover, and shake to get the remainder of the sauce.  Add to the pan and simmer on low to marry the flavors, this is your sauce. Sprinkle with salt/pepper/and garlic powder to taste.

When everything is cooked down and incorporated:  add pasta, half of the fontina cheese, shredded chicken, and the sauce to the baking pan and mix so that all is incorporated evenly.  Sprinkle the remainder of the fontina on top with parmesan cheese to cover.  

ready for the oven

Bake uncovered for approx 45-60 minutes, until hot all the way through.  The top will be crusty and the inside will be moist and delicious.  If you don't want a crusty top, bake it covered.

Serve on a plate with more parmesan, salt, and pepper