Parmesan Chicken Bubble Up Casserole

This recipe was inspired by Plain Chicken's Chicken Parmesan Bubble Up. I loved the idea of this one - and I thought I had some canned biscuits in the refrigerator. Turns out I didn't - so I made mine from scratch instead. I think the version on Plain Chicken would be yummy and super simple and still want to give that one a try sometime! My family really liked this one. I found that since I was using pizza dough instead of the canned biscuits, ours had to bake quite a bit longer to cook the dough all the way through, so be aware of that, and test to make sure your dough is cooked through if you use homemade pizza dough in this one. When I was mixing things I made the mistake of putting the dough in with hot chicken, instead of allowing the chicken to cool. That caused the dough to get soft and stretchy, and it didn't stay in the little chunks I'd cut it into, so I suggest using cooled chicken and just gently (and quickly) tossing the dough chunks with the chicken mixture right before putting into the baking dish.

This is saucy, cheesy, and bready. All things comfort food and yumm. My baby girl loved this one - she seems to really like anything with spaghetti sauce flavors which is good, because I've realized I like to use spaghetti sauce for a variety of things - from spaghetti, to ziti, casseroles, chicken parm, pizza, etc. Seasoned tomato sauce is my friend! We found the leftovers heated pretty well too - I took some for lunch and it seemed to reheat ok in the microwave or oven. This went great with a fresh Caesar salad for a filling dinner.

I used Homemade Pizza Dough and found about half the recipe was 12 ounces. We used the other half to make our own cinnamon sticks with icing... mmm....

Parmesan Chicken Bubble Up Casserole adapted from Plain Chicken

Ingredients
1 lb chicken, diced and cooked and cooled to room temp
1 24-oz jar spaghetti sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
12 oz pizza dough (we used Homemade Pizza Dough, half the recipe is 12 oz.)

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the cooked and cooled chicken, spaghetti sauce, and 1 cup of mozzarella. 
3. Cut the dough into small chunks (about 1" squared) and gently toss them with the chicken mixture. 
4. Spread mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with remaining cheeses.
5. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the dough is completely cooked through, cheese is melted, and casserole is bubbly. (Check at the 30 minute mark and cover with foil if the cheese is getting browned too quickly.)

My sweet kiddos - big red and little red - reading nighttime books together.