Chicken Pasta Casserole

This is one that you make ahead. You make it the night before and it has to be refrigerated overnight. This was kind of a lot of work for one night. Because I made our regular supper, we ate it, I cleaned up. Then I had to run to the store because we were out of milk. Then I had to make this, which took 1 hour and 7 minutes (of course with multiple distractions)(oh and also on the recipe, the prep time says 25 minutes plus chilling...maybe these people have no little ones etc to distract them) and then clean up. So if something takes this much effort, it had better be good. This one is from the August/September 2010 Simple & Delicious.

Chicken Pasta Casserole
5 cups uncooked egg noodles
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp pepper, divided
1 lb chicken tenderloins (I did buy these, but you could just cut up breasts you already have, too. Of course that will add to the time this takes to prepare)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 tbsp butter
1 3/4 cups half and half cream, divided
2 cups shredded mozarella
1 can cream of celery soup, undiluted
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth (guess which one I used?? Of course it was homemade chicken stock)
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes


Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the parmesan cheese, egg, garlic powder and 1 tsp pepper; set aside. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water; add to egg mixture. Set aside. In a large skillet, cook the chicken, onion, celery and remaining 1/4 tsp pepper in butter over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in 1/2 cup cream; heat through. In a greased 13x9 baking dish, layer half of the noodle mixture, chicken mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Combine the soup, broth, and remaining cream; pour over top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Bake, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Okay so this was good. But it wasn't that good. And I have no idea why you have to let it refrigerate for so long before you bake it. Sam really liked it, Emma was okay with it, and Nathan slept. What a peaceful meal we had, ha ha. I liked this too, but like I said, it would have to be so so so good to make it worth making 2 meals the night before. Why couldn't you just assemble it and bake it? Anyone have any thoughts?