Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole For Two - cooking recipe

Ingredients

For the chicken
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
12 ounces chicken breasts, cubed
1/4 cup shallot, minced (optional)
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup apple juice or 1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon stone ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup broccoli floret, BLANCHED
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
For the Casserole
2 round sour dough rolls, each 6 inch
2 -4 deli slices smoked ham, 2 ounces
2 slices swiss cheese, sliced
2 teaspoons parmesan cheese, grated DIVIDED

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line with foil and lightly spray a small baking sheet with nonstick spray.
Melt butter over medium high heat in a saute pan.
Add chicken and saute until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Stir in shallots and saute until softened, 2 minutes.
Sprinkle mixture with flour, cook 1 minute.
Combine apple juice and broth; slowly add to chicken in saute pan, stirring constantly to avoid clumping.
Stir in cream, Parmesan, mustard, and thyme; simmer after each addition until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.
Add BLANCHED broccoli; season with salt and cayenne pepper.
Reduce heat to low.
Hollow out loaves by cutting off tops and tearing out insides. (Remove as much bread as possible.).
Compress any remaining bread inside loaves to make room for filling-you need space.
Toast loaves directly on oven rack, about 5 minutes; remove to prepared baking sheet.
Arrange ham slices in bottom of each loaf.
Using a slotted spoon, divide chicken mixture evenly between rolls, RESERVING sauce in pan for last step.
Top the chicken in each loaf with a slice of Swiss and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon Parmesan.
Bake \"casseroles\" until cheese melts, 7-10 minutes. (For extra browning, broil casseroles on high, 3-5 minutes.).
Serve each casserole with reserved cream sauce.