Chicken Asparagus Pasta Casserole

A reader, Carrie C. sent us this recipe. It sounds really good and seems like a cozy comfort food. I think I'll try it this week.  Thanks so much, Carrie!

Here is what Carrie had to say:
I would like to share a recipe that we just had for dinner.  Never having served asparagus before I was a little apprehensive about how to cook it in a way that my family would eat it!  I found this recipe on-line from Taste of Home and tweaked it just a little.  Here it is:

Chicken Asparagus Pasta Casserole

Ingredients

• 8 oz. penne pasta
• 2 cups sliced asparagus
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup sour cream (I used French onion dip because it was what I had – it was great)
• 1 cup diced cooked chicken
• ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese (I left this out and it was still very creamy)
• 1 ½ cups dried seasoned bread crumbs
• ¼ cup melted butter

Directions

·         Cook pasta according to package directions.  Three to four minutes before the pasta is finished, add the asparagus and continue to boil.  When pasta is done and the asparagus is tender, drain and set aside.

·         In the same pan (this saves on dishes!) combine the soup, milk, sour cream, chicken, rosemary and cheese.  Heat on medium heat until hot. 

·         Add the pasta and asparagus.  Mix well and transfer to an oven safe dish. 

·         Mix the bread crumbs with the melted butter.

·         Top the casserole with the bread crumbs and place in the oven on broil to brown (I did not raise my rack because I did not want it to burn).

·         Remove from oven and enjoy!

Note:  I doubled the recipe and it fit into a 9x13 pan.