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–+ servings

Southwest Chicken Pasta Bake

This Southwest Chicken Pasta Bake is full creamy, cheesy goodness with the perfect balance of chicken, beans, and tomatoes, all baked together with Gouda for a melt-in-your-mouth experience.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course dinner
Cuisine American, Southwest
Servings 8

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 16 ounces penne pasta
  • Olive oil
  • ¾ cup diced red pepper
  • ¾ cup diced onion
  • ½ tablespoon garlic
  • 3 cups cooked cubed or shredded chicken
  • 1 can black beans rinsed
  • 2 10 ounce cans diced tomatoes with chiles or 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 can chiles
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 8 ounces Gouda hand shredded
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • ½ teaspoon cumin

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Add HOT water a stock pot. Heavily salt it and place the pasta the in the hot water. Stir periodically. (See note)
  • While the pasta is soaking (or cooking), heat a large pan over medium heat. Add olive oil once hot and then add the onion and pepper. Cook down until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just a bit more.
  • Remove from the pan and add to a large bowl with rinsed beans, cooked chicken, and tomatoes. Mix well.
  • Heat the same pan back up over medium heat. Add the heavy cream, salt, red pepper flakes, and cumin. Once the cream is warm, slowly stir in the Gouda a small bit at a time, allowing it to melt before adding more. Remove from heat and stir in the drained pasta.
  • Combine the coated pasta and the chicken mixture. Stir well. Once combined, layer into a large baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes until warmed all the way through. Option to remove the foil 5 minutes before the bake time is over.

Notes

Rather than boil the pasta, fill a pot with HOT, salted water. Put the uncooked pasta in the pot and stir. While you are prepping everything else, let the pasta sit and soak up the water, stirring every once in a while. It will absorb the moisture without having to worry about over cooking it! Once it goes in the oven, it will cook the rest of the way without absorbing the moisture from your bake! (If you don’t believe me, you can totally just boil the pasta to al dente, but don’t say I didn’t share this great tip that I learned from The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt)
Keyword black beans, chicken, meala prep, pasta, pasta bake, penne pasta, Sonora chicken, tomatoes
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