Here is a chicken and spinach pasta bake that is perfect for a cold winter’s night. This came from some experimentation when my wife wanted something different for dinner last evening.
“Okay then, we need some spinach and cheese,” I said.
“I hate spinach,” She replied.
“Well, you want something different and that’s different!”
She wasn’t happy.
So I gathered some supplies from the grocer and the pantry.
- A stick of butter.
- A block of cream cheese.
- A pint of heavy cream.
- Salt, garlic and pepper.
- Homemade pasta.
- 3 Chicken breasts.
- 4 cups of mozzarella cheese.
- 5 ounces of baby spinach.
We have so many recipe posts that include homemade pasta, it was getting redundant posting the method over and over. I decided to write a separate article on pasta making and I will start referencing that in the future for those that haven’t seen it before.
As a side note, this recipe also works great as a spinach dip appetizer if you only make the sauce and bake it. Serve it with some fresh baked bread and you have a meal in it’s own.
Let’s begin.
1Dice It
Start by cubing the chicken breasts and setting them in a pan on high while boiling your pasta.
2Cook It
The chicken takes only 10 minutes to cook. If any are undercooked; they will finish in the oven.
3Melt Me
Put the butter and heavy cream in a medium saucepan on low.
4Cut The Cheese
When the butter is all melted; cube the cream cheese and add it to the saucepan.
5Melt the Mozz
Add the mozzarella and stir the mixture well. You do not want it scorching on the bottom of your pan.
6This Isn’t Popeye’s Spinach
Add the baby spinach to your saucepan and press it down into the mixture.
7Stir, Don’t Scorch!
Start stirring; the spinach will quickly wilt and incorporate in with your sauce.
8Finish It Off
Place the cooked chicken into the saucepan, mix well and add the seasonings to taste.
9Mix It Up
Mix the drained pasta and sauce in a large baking dish, sprinkle with Parmesan.
10Bake It Up
Put it in a 375 degrees heated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown.
11Eat It Up
I would let it cool down before digging in, the cheese is so hot it’s like napalm on your tongue.
12My Wife’s Response After she Tried It
My wife loved it; she had two bowls for dinner and a bowl for lunch today.
[quote_box_right]Stock what you eat. Eat what you stock.[/quote_box_right]
If you wanted to make a quicker version using shelf stable ingredients, you can substitute: canned chicken, canned spinach and dry pasta. It might be something to add to the shopping list to stock the pantry with.
A real interesting experiment would be to use dry milk and cheese; I might have to give that a try.
Stay safe and have fun experimenting in the kitchen.
