This week Dagny requested my mom’s chicken casserole. Jon’s usually in charge of making this one. He makes two batches, one following the recipe and one changed a bit for the tastes of the vegetarian-no-canned-mushrooms crowd. With chicken or without, I still call it chicken casserole. Old habits die hard.

GrammaDonna’s (no)Chicken Casserole:

5 lbs chicken breast

1 lb longhorn (sharp cheddar) cheese

1 box pasta shells

1 lb box frozen sweet baby peas

2 small jars pimento

2 small cans mushrooms

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

2 cups stock (Mom used chicken, we use vegetable)

breadcrumbs

Boil the shells and the chicken in separate pots. Add the cheese to the shells while they are hot. Add the other ingredients, then put the mixture into an oven safe dish. Cover with melted butter and breadcrumbs.

Bake @ 350 until golden and bubbly (about 45 minutes).

We usually eat it all up pretty quickly, but it does freeze well.