The sun has returned, I’m very happy about that and in celebration I had this chicken and kale casserole.

 

 

I can’t really think of any pasta I don’t like and when you add cheese it’s just got to be good. And it was.

 

 

I sliced up some garlic

 

 

and added some butter then waited for it to cook but nothing happened.

 

 

That reminds me, one time a friend of a friend actually forgot to turn the burner on. I don’t know what made me think of that.

 

 

Anyway, back to this little recipe. I eventually got the onions and garlic cooked

 

 

and then tossed in the kale. I cooked it until it turned bright green.

 

 

That’s when I realized I had forgotten to chop it before cooking it. So I chopped the cooked kale along with the parsley.

 

 

In a bowl I added chopped chicken, ricotta.

 

 

Then I zested a lemon. I’m sure you could get a little more zest than I did. Because I didn’t grate much, it really didn’t have much of a lemon flavor.

 

 

Then I added the onions, garlic, lemon zest, kale and parsley.

 

 

As I mixed it I had this sneaking suspicion that my bowl was too small.

 

 

A little salt and pepper

 

 

and parmesan. I mixed that together and the bowl seemed even smaller.

 

 

I tried to put the pasta shells in next but finally had to stop, this just wasn’t going to work.

 

 

I had to take about half of the cheese and chicken mixture out. I set it temporarily in the kale pan. I refuse to dirty another bowl. I will make this work.

 

 

I put about a cup or so of pasta shells in the cheese mixture.

 

 

Mixed it together and poured it into a small casserole pan.

 

 

Then I used the remaining cheese and chicken mixture with more pasta shells and filled a second small casserole pan.

 

 

Topped them with parmesan and a little shredded cheddar and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes.

 

 

Let it Cool on a wire rack

 

 

and served warm.

 

 

The second one went to the freezer for one day I want something ready to go.

 

 

Chicken kale and parsley casserole

adapted from Martha

Ingredients

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/2 pound large pasta shells
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced medium
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch kale, tough stems and ribs removed, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 fist full parsley chopped
• 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (from 1/2 rotisserie chicken)
• 1 container ricotta
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar

Directions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain; return to pot. In a pan, melt butter over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is beginning to soften, 4 minutes. Add kale, cover, and cook until almost tender, about 5 minutes.

   In a bowl Stir in chicken, ricotta, lemon zest, kale, parsley, onions and garlic and 1/2 cup Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a 9-by-13-inch or 2 smaller pans; top with 1/4 cup Parmesan and some shredded cheddar. Bake until top is golden, 30 minutes.

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