My husband is a chef and I've picked up a thing or two from him but I'm still not the best cook. I usually need a recipe. However, I've found that the times I use a recipe as a base and then embellish I make the best dishes. This turned out pretty damn good from ingredients I pieced together from leftovers in our fridge so I thought I'd share. So here goes:
Super Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu-ish Casserole
1 lb. penne or whatever pasta you have that is similar in shape and size
4 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced (I am lazy so I used the handy jar of already chopped up garlic and I used 2 fairly large teaspoons.)
3 tbsp. flour
4 c. beef broth
1 c. heavy cream or milk
salt
black pepper
1 tsp. dijon mustard
2 c. shredded rotisserie chicken
1 c. chopped up pastrami
2 c. shredded Gruyere or some kind of hard cheese other than parm
1/2 c. grated Parmesan
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped (if you have it)
Preheat oven to 400°.
Cook up the pasta to al dente.
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle in flour and cook until slightly golden with a whisk constantly stirring, 2 minutes more. Pour in beef broth and heavy cream (or milk) and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, then add mustard. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until liquid coats the back of a spoon, 10-12 minutes.
Pour noodles in a baking pan and add the chopped up or shredded chicken, pastrami, shredded cheese and sauce and stir together. Add some grated parmesan on top.
Bake for 13-15 minutes and that is it.
You can totally switch things out according to what you already have. Use chicken broth instead of beef, ham instead of pastrami, etc.