Shells & Cheese with Chicken

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A few days ago, I was paging through a magazine and found an ad with a recipe for an Italian-Style Mac & Cheese with Chicken – since my husband is not a fan of sausage I figured I would substitute chicken breast in it instead, and I had everything else in my pantry and fridge to make it. (Well, almost.)

The creaminess of the cheese sauce was to be made from evaporated milk.  I assembled all my items, got ready to make the recipe and opened the can of evaporated milk..and it was weird.   Ewww it had expired (time to do a pantry clean out I guess!).

So here I am in my kitchen needing to majorly modify this recipe so we can eat.  I mean we could have gone out or picked up pizza, but I’m always up for a challenge before I cry defeat.  It ended up being very tasty and even worthy of a blog post.

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Shells & Cheese with Chicken

8 oz dry small shell pasta noodles
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup fat free milk
2 cups mild shredded cheddar cheese
1 can (12 oz) premium chunk chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Prepare noodles as directed on package and drain.

While the noodles are cooking, combine butter, flour, milk, cheese and garlic salt in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until cheese is melted and a roux sauce is formed.  Add cheese sauce and chicken to the noodles.  Stir until combined.  Fold in basil and tomatoes.

Makes 6, 1 cup servings.

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