KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 53: Chicken, bacon and macaroni casserole

For our dinner tonight, I decided to cook a pasta dish that would not be so light as to resemble a snack but something a bit heavy that could stand as a meal by itself - so we had chicken, bacon and macaroni casserole (for the exact recipe just browse the Casa Veneracion blog). First, I marinated the chicken fillet in a little salt and pepper. Then, I cooked the macaroni in a little salted water for just five minutes, drained it though it wasn’t cooked through yet because it would be cooked a bit more later.

Then, I melted a bit of butter in a pan and cooked the bacon for two minutes. After that, the chicken, carrots, bell peppers and peas were added to the pan (but since I didn’t have any peas, I substituted corn). I poured in about a half cup of water and just let it boil. When the mixture simmered, I lowered the heat and cooked it uncovered until the liquid is reduced. More salt and pepper may be added, if needed. Next, the undercooked pasta was added and I just continued stirring until the mixture is almost dry. The dish called for condensed mushroom soup but I didn’t have any so I substituted cream of mushroom soup. I let it boil for a few minutes more, then I turned off the heat and served it at once. My family says it tastes good even if it looked a bit like dried-up sopas. What’s more, they lament that the bacon was a bit soft, they would have preferred it to be a bit crispy. But I countered that the recipe did not exactly call for crispy bacon since it is only cooked for two minutes in butter. Oh well, at least I’ll need to remember that the next time I cook it.