Chicken Mac & Cheese

• 1 pound pasta of your choosing (we often use 2-3 different kinds - our favs are gemelli and cellentani)
• 2 pounds sharp cheddar cheese, cut into 1/2 in. cubes
• 1 large sweet onion, sliced and broken apart
• 6-8 large mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2 in., sauteed in 2 T. olive oil (or use leftover chicken)
• 1 large head broccoli, cut into bit-sized pieces, lightly steamed
• oregano
• basil
• salt & pepper
• 1 can evaporated milk or any kind of milk
• Ritz crackers, 1 sleeve

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Saute onions and mushrooms until caramelized (we find this takes about 15 minutes); add garlic for last 2 minutes; set aside.
3. At the same time, cube cheese, cook pasta and steam broccoli
4. Into a large cast iron Dutch oven or large casserole dish layer pasta, onions mixture, broccoli and cheese; adding salt, pepper, oregano and basil to taste to each layer
5. When layering complete, add evaporated milk; then add more milk till about 1/3 up the side of pan
6. Add crushed Ritz crackers over top
7. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes covered; then bake an additional 5-10 minutes uncovered to brown the top.

pasta, cheddar cheese, sweet onion, mushrooms, garlic, chicken, head broccoli, oregano, basil, salt, milk, crackers

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/chicken-mac-cheese-50179366 (may not work)