Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole Recipe

This casserole takes the ingredients of chicken cordon bleu and layers them into a baking dish to create a delicious meal for any night of the week. This casserole consists of shredded chicken, black forest ham, Swiss cheese, a mustard flavored sauce and breadcrumbs. One of the ingredients in this recipe is the meat from a cooked rotisserie chicken—using a rotisserie chicken helps to save time because you do not need to cook the chicken yourself. The most work involved in this recipe comes from making the sauce. The sauce gets most of its flavor from the Dijon mustard and lemon juice and compliments the ham and chicken nicely. This casserole is very rich and filling on its own, so you may want to consider preparing a side-dish to go with it—I personally prefer wild rice. Enjoy. Adapted from TastyKitchen.

Ingredients:
1 large rotisserie chicken (meat removed, and shredded)
1/2lb deli-style black forest ham (chopped)
½lb sliced Swiss cheese
Sauce-
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Topping-
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 ½ cups seasoned breadcrumbs
¼ cup parmesan cheese

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Evenly spread the shredded chicken into the bottom of the casserole dish. Top evenly with the ham and then layer the Swiss cheese on top of the ham.
Step 2: Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook while whisking for 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk while whisking to keep clumps from forming. Increase the heat to high and cook while whisking constantly until the sauce thickens and boils. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Mix well and pour over the top of the cheese in the casserole dish.
Step 3: In a small bowl mix together the melted butter, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese until the crumbs are moist from the butter. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the ingredients in the baking dish. Place into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken slightly.
(Makes 8 Servings)