Mom's Chicken Tetrazzeni

Recreating one of Mom's early dishes. This was very tasty! The mild flavors of the mushrooms and celery worked wonders with the white sauce and chicken. This freezes well.

Ingredients:
1 box (1 pound) linguine noodles, cooked and drained
1-2 cups plain bread crumbs
To really amp it up, mix these wiith softened butter
For the white sauce:
6 tablespoons salted butter
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
3-4 cups half and half
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
For the chicken mix:
2 pounds chicken breast cut into 1 inch cubes
4 stalks of celery sliced thin
16 ounces mushrooms sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
1. Prepare pasta al dente (about 10 minutes) and drain. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat being careful not to brown it. Add flour and stir in until mixed. Add half and half, salt, and nutmeg and mix well. Stir regularly and heat until bubbly.
3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat, then add cut up chicken. Sautee until most of pink is gone (don't let it brown). Add celery and stir to mix together. Sautee another 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms and mix together. Cover skillet with a lid to let the mushrooms sweat down a bit--another 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Add cooked pasta to the skillet and mix together. Pour in half the while sauce and mix, then add the other half and mix until all is incorporated.
5. Pour mixture into a 9x13" casserole dish and spread evenly. Cover the top with the breadcrumbs.
6. Bake in the oven at 325 F for 30 minutes.

Lessons learned:
1. More sauce is better. The noodles and breadcrumbs will soak up the sauce.
2. Mix softened butter with the breadcrumbs for some extra richness and to cut down on the dryness.