• Ingredients:
  • 8oz macaroni pasta
  • Water
  • 6 chicken drumsticks
  • 3 tablespoons pesto
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • ¼ cup chicken broth
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8oz package of sliced FunGuy white button mushrooms
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1½ cups milk, divided
  • 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
  • 4-6 sundried tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • Salt

What’s better than simple pesto and pasta? Baked pesto coated chicken drumsticks on top of a bed of homemade creamy, cheesy, and mushroom-y macaroni, of course!

This dish takes a little extra work with browning the drumsticks to crisp up the skin, and making the sauce from scratch, but it is well worth the effort once it hits the table. 

So good that seconds may be required!

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 375F. 
  2. Bring a pot of water to boil over high heat. Add in the macaroni pasta and allow to boil for 5-6 minutes, or until almost done but still a little firm. Drain off excess water pour into a large bowl.
  3. While the pasta cooks, prepare the chicken and sauce. 
  4. Put the chicken in a large dish and coat each drumstick with the pesto on each side. 
  5. Heat half of the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the drumsticks, skin side down, and let it sear 7-8 minutes, turning every couple of minutes so that it has browned a bit. Transfer to a clean plate, covering to keep it warm.
  6. Pour the broth into the pan, scraping any crispy bits from the bottom of the pan as it evaporates. Add the rest of the olive oil to the pan and toss in the FunGuy mushrooms, cooking 3-4 minutes. Reserve a few of the mushrooms in a bowl for later.
  7. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and stir so that it absorbs the oil in the pan and forms a paste like consistency. Pour the half of the milk and all of the yogurt into the pan, stirring constantly so no lumps form, and let it cook about 3 minutes, or until it has thickened a bit. Turn off the heat and stir in ¾ of the cheese and the diced dried tomatoes.
  8. Pour the cheesy mushroom sauce into the bowl with the macaroni and stir well to combine. Transfer the pasta to a casserole dish and place the chicken drumsticks on top. Add the reserved mushrooms on top of the chicken and pasta and finish with the rest of the cheese sprinkled in an even layer on top. 
  9. Place the casserole dish in the oven and allow it to cook 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and has reached an internal temperature of 165F. Remove the dish from the oven and allow it to cool at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Have a Fun meal!