Chicken Noodle Casserole for 2

I don't think I've ever received a copy of Cook's Country where several recipes didn't just call out for me to try them. That was certainly the case with the June/July 2020 issue which I set aside for fall. Some foods, casseroles and soups among them, are best served when there's a chill in the air and the smell of turning leaves.

I made my fair share of Campbell soup recipes in my younger years, so this made-from-scratch casserole sounded like pure comfort food. The added benefit was that it makes just 2 servings, though I must warn you they'd be enormous servings. We got 2 good-sized dinner servings with enough left over for one lunch tomorrow.

Ingredients

3 Tbs olive oil, divided

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

salt and pepper

3 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

8 oz white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thinly ( I doubled the mushrooms from the original recipe)

1 large shallot, chopped

8 oz skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes

4 tsp all purpose flour

1 cup half and half ( I used fat free half and half)

1 cup chicken broth

3 oz dry wide egg noodles

2 oz shredded cheddar cheese (1/2 cup)

 1/2 cup frozen peas (I hate them, so put them in Larry's serving only)

Directions:

Heat remaining 2 Tbs oil in now empty skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and cook until moisture has evaporated and mushrooms are golden brown, about 8 minutes.

Add chicken and flour and stir until no dry flour remains. Cook about 1 minutes. Stir in the half and half and the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in noodles, submerging them as much as possible, and cook, uncovered, until noodles are tender and sauce is thickened, about 8 minutes.

Stir in shredded cheese and stir until thoroughly melted. Stir in peas (if you like them; I don't) and warm another 2 minutes. Off heat, top with the panko mixture and serve.

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TASTE NOTES

Oh, my, goodness! What a decadent bowl of pure comfort this was! I could not believe how large the serving sizes would have been had I not left a lunch-sized portion in the pan. I was a bit worried about using the fat free half and half, but it worked perfectly and the texture and taste was spot on. I was thinking that this recipe could be bulked up with the addition of broccoli. I ran it through the WW recipe builder and a full serving is a whopping 23 points. I could have made this into 4 servings instead of 3, but it was worth every delicious calorie.