Ohhhhhh, these are good. So good. Crispy, chewy, buttery, cheesy and garlicky. Oh, and they are so easy to make.

These are not your average bread sticks. These are very rich. I like them as is and dipped in a good marinara sauce. I must warn you…..if you serve these before a meal or along side a meal, you will get full on these and not be able to finish your meal. You won’t be able to stop eating them!  Just give me a basket of these and a bottle of wine and all is good. Did I just say a bottle of wine?? I meant to say a glass of wine. Yeah, right.

If you are hesitant to work with yeast, please don’t be. This is the easiest recipe ever. Just make sure your yeast is not expired and you will be fine. But if you still feel uncomfortable, you can always use a ball of pizza dough from the grocery store. But please, please try this dough.

Ok, are you ready?

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1½ teaspoon dry active yeast
1 cup lukewarm water

For the spread:
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons salted butter
3 fresh garlic cloves, minced very fine
1 tsp parsley or chives
2 cups Italian Shredded Cheese (I used a mixture of parmesan, asiago, fontina and provolone)
Optional:  pizza sauce for dipping

In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Slowly add the water, making a dough. The dough should come together and be soft, not dry and shaggy.
Knead for two minutes and form a ball.
In another bowl, add about a tsp of oil and place your dough ball in. Move the dough ball around, coating it and the bowl with the oil.
Cover with a dish towel for 1 hour or until dough has doubled.
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Lightly oil a baking sheet. Place your dough ball on the sheet and press it out with your fingers, to a thickness of approximately 1/4″
In a small bowl, mix together the butter, olive oil, garlic and chives/parsley. Spread it all over the dough.
Sprinkle dough with the shredded cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the dough has browned and cheese is all melty.
Cut into sticks and serve immediately.
I should tell you….these really are best eaten the same day. Oh darn! They aren’t as good the next day, reheated.

Oozy goozy cheesy noodles. Yum. I love this dish. It is one of my favorites for sure. It’s loaded with cheese and a rich cream sauce. Oh my. Be warned, after you eat this you will turn into a blob on the sofa. It’s so filling, but so delicious. Sounds good right? Oh yes.

If you don’t want to bother with roasting your chile peppers and peeling them, you can just buy them whole in a can. I’ve done that and it’s still delicious. I used Poblano chiles. They are large dark green  peppers. You never know if you’re going to get a spicy one or not. Some have no heat at all….just good flavor. But sometimes……yeehaw….nice and spicy. So if you are not into heat at all, go with the whole green chiles in a can.

There are no real exact measurements here. Just depends on how much stuff you want. Know what I mean? But I will try to give you an idea of how much stuff you need.

Chicken Poblano  Lasagna
serves 5-6

approx. 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
approx. 2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (optional)
1 box of lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
1/2 cup butter
1/2 flour
4 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 – 4 poblano or whole green chiles, split open and cut into large pieces

Saute the onions, garlic and jalapeno until the onions are soft. Set aside.
In  a sauce pan, at medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and mix into a paste (roux). Slowly add the milk, whisking until smooth and creamy. If it looks too thick, add a bit more milk so that you have a nice smooth sauce. Just taste to make sure you don’t have a flour taste. Keep warm while you assemble your lasagna.

Butter or spray the bottom of a deep baking dish. I use 13x 9.
Start the layering process:
sauce
noodles
chicken
onion mixture
cheese
Chiles
sauce…..repeat until pan is filled. Try to end with sauce.
Save some of the cheese to put on top the last 5 minutes of baking.

Bake at 350 for approx. 45 minutes or until bubbly. Add some more cheese and allow to melt.

If you have some sauce left, heat it up and spoon over each serving.