A rotisserie chicken can do more than one dinner. After the first meal, cube the remaining meat for this casserole and use the carcass to make several quarts of stock.
This is pot pie in a more practical form—tender chicken, vegetables, and a creamy sauce folded through small pasta shells, then finished with crisp breadcrumbs. The idea is adapted from Chef John’s pot pie pasta bake. The shells go into the oven only about 80 percent Ncooked, leaving them firm enough to absorb flavor as they finish without requiring more stock than the casserole needs.
Leftover Thanksgiving turkey slips into the same method. Nothing else changes.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 2–3 carrots, cubed
- 3 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt, adjusted to the saltiness of the stock
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups homemade chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken, optional
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 3–4 cups cooked rotisserie chicken, cut into bite-size cubes
- 1 pound small pasta shells
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon salt, for the topping
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for the topping
Method
Heat the oven to 375°F. Butter a deep 4½-quart baking dish.
- Melt ½ cup butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the carrots, celery, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in the pepper, thyme, garlic powder, and bay leaf and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, until it turns light golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in the stock. Add the Better Than Bouillon, if using, and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in the peas and cream and cook for about 10 minutes, until the carrots begin to soften and the sauce thickens.
- Stir in the chicken. Remove the bay leaf. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Meanwhile, boil the shells in salted water for about 80 percent of the package cooking time. Drain well.
- Fold the shells into the filling and transfer to the prepared baking dish.
- Toss the panko with ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Scatter evenly over the top.
- Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, until bubbling and golden. Rest for 15 minutes before serving.
Why This Method
The pasta is deliberately undercooked. At about 80 percent, the shells retain enough structure to finish in the sauce, absorbing flavor without becoming soft. Because the pasta is already mostly cooked, four cups of stock provide enough liquid without leaving the casserole soupy. The 15-minute rest matters too: it allows the sauce to settle and the casserole to hold together when served.
One Chicken, More Than One Meal
The homemade stock in this casserole may come from the previous chicken; today’s carcass becomes the next batch. Pressure-cooked with the skin, bones, and accumulated juices, it can yield as much as three quarts of stock. Freeze it in measured portions, including four-cup portions ready for this recipe, and one meal quietly becomes the foundation for another.