Love Italian flavors and gobs of cheese? Then this is your casserole!

GOT LEFTOVERS?

Have you got leftover chicken and sausage?

Then this casserole is the perfect way to use it up. Ideally both chicken and Italian sausage is used together in this meal, but one or the other will do nicely.

What a great way to reinvent your leftovers!

PASTA AS A MEAL EXTENDER

Whenever I have little bits of meat and vegetable leftovers but not enough to serve four people, I will add a starch extender to whatever I have then add sauce or gravy.

This time I used some penne pasta that I had which was not enough to serve four if I was going to make a meal where pasta was the main ingredient, so what I had left was perfect for use in this casserole.

GREAT FAMILY MEAL

This Italian casserole makes a great weeknight family meal. The young kiddos will love this because it’s not overly spicy and has all the foods younger children like to eat.

If you double the recipe, this is also a wonderful meal to bring to covered dishes and pot luck suppers. In fact, I think this recipe was originally in a pot luck cookbook that I had years ago.

The original didn’t call for any cheese mixed in the filling, however, I added some shredded cheese in there. You also get a nice thick layer of cheese on the top which even tastes great when the casserole is cooled. I introduced a bit of Asiago cheese into the topping, but you can easily leave that out, especially if you’re feeding very young kids who may not appreciate the taste.