Italian Baked Bruschetta Chicken and Pastina

Source: Lauren's Kitchen

Serves: 4ish

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pastina pasta (I used 1/2 box of small shells and about 1/4 box of pastina)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
• 1 onion, diced (I omitted)
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella (we only used 1 cup because only half had cheese)
• 1/2 cup parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (14-1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 pkg. stuffing mix (I made my own because I haven't been able to find any stuffing mix that I can have)**
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
  

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Cook pasta according to directions on box. Drain pasta and put in a large mixing bowl.
3. While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 more minutes.
5. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta.
6. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
7. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a sprayed 9x13 baking dish (we used smaller dishes because we had to split the recipe in half).
8. In a small bowl, mix the other can of tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until the stuffing mix is moistened. Layer the stuffing mix on top of the pasta.
9. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes.
   

Our Reviews:

Shelley: Good, but there was something missing. I think next time I'll try sausage instead of chicken. There either wasn't enough chicken, or it didn't add enough flavor. You hardly noticed it was in there.

Ryan: Amazing.

** My "Stuffing" Recipe **

This probably doesn't taste anything like regular stuffing (which I've never had), but it worked for this recipe. It is more like small pieces of bruschetta.

• 6 slices of bread, toasted
• Olive oil
• Italian Seasoning
• Parsley
• Any other spices you think might work

1. Crumble toasted bread with your hands until it is in small pieces.
2. Add desired seasonings and olive oil, mixing until bread is coated.