pesto chicken with leeks and mushrooms

After my ambitious cooking day yesterday I went back to my casserole roots and came up with this recipe. It was somewhat inspired by a Martha Steward Living article about changing old favorites to slim down recipes but ultimately I'm not sure I achieved that. But I did put some of our favorite things in the dish so was fairly certain it would work out.

pesto chicken with leeks and mushrooms

5-6 medium red potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced into rounds
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 medium leeks, white and green only, sliced into half moons

2 c. sliced mushrooms (sometimes it helps to have help in the kitchen - here is my mushroom slicer)

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp olive oil
salt, pepper
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1/2 c. pesto (I used sun dried tomato and arugula pesto with walnuts)
1 c. chicken stock
1/2 c plain yogurt
1/4 tsp cayenne
parmesan shavings

Boil the potatoes

in salted water until fork tender. Drain and layer the bottom of a greased 8x10 casserole dish with the cooked potato rounds, filling in the holes.

Into a saute pan, add the oil and heat to medium hot. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook ~ 5 minutes. Add the leeks and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Add the garlic, mustards and cook a few more minutes. Move the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the chicken. When the chicken is brown on all sides, mix in the vegetables and add the pesto, stock and yogurt. Stir well to mix. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne to taste.

Pour the chicken mixture over the potatoes, evenly.

Sprinkle the parmesan shavings over the top.

Bake at 350 deg F for about 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serves 4-6.