Chicken and Mushroom Mac 'N' Cheese

Tonight's dinner was nothing more than whipping up something quick and easy. As I rifled through the fridge and freezer for something to make, I found a tub of ricotta cheese that I had been planning on using for some time, but had not given it any real thought. I often keep ricotta and cottage cheese in the freezer as it really extends the shelf life, and as long as I am not expecting actual curds from the cottage cheese, this is great for when you are going to use the cheese for cooking.


Ingredients:

Chicken Breasts
4 chicken breasts
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP vegetable oil
Garlic powder (I won't give an exact measurement here, but sprinkle enough on both sides to give it a good coat)
Salt (according to your taste)

Macaroni
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup Greek or Middle Eastern yoghurt
1/4 cup Half N Half cream
1 tub whole milk ricotta cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 TBSP butter
6 cups cooked elbow macaroni

Heat oven to 375*F
1. Sprinkle enough garlic powder on chicken breasts, add salt as desired. Heat butter and vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Fry the breasts until golden brown, then place into a baking dish and cook in oven for 15-20 minutes.
2. Cook macaroni and set aside.
3. In a saucepan, melt butter and add mushroom soup. Stir well to mix the butter and the soup, add spices and stir through. Add yoghurt, cream, and ricotta cheese, and mix very well. Bring to a boil and then add the macaroni. Mix very well together.

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