Baked penne

This particular food event happened about a month ago but I had to wait for Alexis to send me the photo before posting a description of this fine meal Sean and Sue (Sue by doing the dishes afterward) cooked up for us.

When I was a cold and hungry exchange student living on very little money in London I owned one pot and one pan. Those things were enough to do a very basic version of baked penne, and I loved it because is was warm and cheesy and made for great leftovers.

However, I never took it to the next level the way Sean did here. After eating it, I craved it for three days straight. He made it with a sort of spicy chicken sausage, a sundried-tomato-based sauce, and three kinds of cheeses. I'm missing ingredients because this really was about a month ago, but I'll ask and append the remaining vitals.

Good, easy, and fairly healthy comfort food

Asking my mom for a recipe is always an exercise in ambiguity. Her favorite measurements are some, a good amount, and a little. So it took me a while to get this one just right, even though it's basic.

For two people, I poach one or two chicken breasts in either stock or water. When it's done, I let it cool enough to work with and then I shred it into hearty pieces. I make up a biscuit batter (I haven't found one that I love yet, so I choose a different one every time) and preheat the oven to whatever temperature the recipe recommends.

Then I saute an onion in a pot, then add broth and cut up potatoes. It doesn't really matter whether the skins are on or off. Wait a minute, I'm getting pretty vague here and starting to sound like her. So when the potatoes are inching towards ready, I add green beans and whatever other vegetables suit my fancy, throw the chicken in to warm it up. I thicken it with flour or corn starch, then put it in a casserole dish (for two people I use the little square one), and then scoop drop biscuits and place them around the top of the stew. Into the oven to bake the biscuits, wait until the tops are golden, and there you have it.