a new dish {creamy chicken broccoli noodle bake}

Last week I made a new thing for dinner...I should try to come up with a more succinct name for it but that's the best I can do these days. It's nothing super creative but we thought it turned out pretty good...warm & comforting too on these darker, colder fall nights. The leftovers were great too. Lately I've been really into egg noodles for some reason. I've always used them when I make chicken noodle soup but that was about it until recently.

This dish has 4 main ingredients*: egg noodles, chicken, broccoli, and a creamy, cheesy bechamel (white) sauce. It worked well for me to prepare it in chunks as time allowed since I don't have a whole lot of time to spend in the kitchen lately.
Here's how I did it: Par cook the broccoli (about 2 cups or so) for about 4-5 minutes. Poach 1 large or 2 regular sized chicken breasts (about 2 cups or so of pulled chicken...I always like to pull mine apart by hand after poaching). Cook the egg noodles (about half pound or so) just shy of the full cooking time by a minute or two. (I don't like mushy, overcooked noodles.)

Make the bechamel sauce: Saute a little diced onion & garlic in about 2 Tbsp butter. After a few minutes or so, add 1/4 cup flour. Cook for about a minute, stirring lots! Add 1 cup of chicken broth/stock/bouillon. Stir out any lumps. Then add 3/4 cup milk/cream. Stir over medium heat until it begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then, the real secret, special ingredient of this dish is added: cheese! But not just any cheese...Sartori's Bellavitano Gold**. I think I added a cup or so of shredded cheese.

Then in a casserole/baking dish, combine the noodles, chicken, broccoli, and sauce. Mix together well. Top with breadcrumbs for an extra special treat. (I just happened to have some breadcrumbs ready in the freezer that had some herbs and parmesan cheese in them as well which made this dish even easier.) Bake covered at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Then remove the cover and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the breadcrumbs get toasty brown. Yum!

*It should be noted that I didn't measure much of anything except for when making the bechamel sauce...perhaps you can tell by all the "or so's..."! I just don't measure things when I'm cooking, unless I'm following someone else's recipe...so all of these directions are (hopefully) pretty close estimates! But I don't think you can really mess this up anyway!

**Hub recently came across this Bellavitano Gold cheese at the grocery store. It was right next to the regular chunks of parm we usually buy and he was persuaded to buy some when he saw the shiny gold award sticker on it's label. We tried it, loved it, and I use it often in my cooking! It melts wonderfully and has a really good, unique taste. :)