My Sis is Hungry: Chicken Spaghetti

Finally my sister has taken pity on me and fed me again.  I have waited so long!! I was practically wasting away..

So now .. with a full stomach ... I will review this  pasta.  😊

So first off it looks delicious. But that’s not saying much because I think you can put cheese on cardboard and it would look delicious.  Oddly the cheese never really melted but it was bubbling hot.  Not sure what kind of cheese my sister tried to slide me that doesn’t melt?   I tried cooking it both uncovered as directed and then covered just to see if I could get it to melt but no luck.  Just got harder.  Anyway- weird note but didn’t affect the taste.

The taste of this reminded me a lot of tuna noodle casserole- except the chicken was way better.  There was a perfect amount of chicken in this one, loved that.  Not too much , not too little.  Also loved the little red peppers (if that’s what they were)..  possibly would have liked with more veggies?  Wondering as usual if this is healthy in any way?  (that would affect my review).  As a fun note I tried it with hot sauce as well just for variation – didn’t like that.  Tried it also with Sour Cream and that was good. (maybe already has sour cream in it though and I just added more calories that weren’t needed?)  either way, it was good!  good dish to pass for a banquet or something also as it seemed like something everyone might like.  Safe I think for that purpose. 

All in all, Husband gave it a 7- I’ll say 7 as well.  Whether I would make this again of course depends on how easy it is and how healthy (or unhealthy) it is!! I guess I’ll wait for the blog to come out so I can check the recipe and decide.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked chicken (note: I boiled chicken breasts then chopped and shredded once cool enough to handle)
• 3 cups dry spaghetti, broken into 2" pieces
• 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
• 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/3 cup diced sweet pepper (recipe calls for green but I used red)
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 1 4oz. jar diced pimentos, drained
• 2 cups reserved chicken broth from pot (after boiling the chicken, save the pot water)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Lawry's seasoned salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less, to taste)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Boil raw chicken breasts in water until done. Carefully remove from the pot, set aside to cool. Remove 2 cups of water from the pot, set aside. Bring remaining water used to cook the chicken back to a boil (add more if necessary) and cook the spaghetti pieces until just al dente (don't overcook, just until it's barely done). Drain spaghetti and place in a big bowl.

2. Chop and shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces, add to the bowl along with 2 cups shredded cheddar, soup, pepper, onion, pimento, seasoned salt, salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. 

3. Add 1 cup of the reserved water from cooking the chicken in, stir to incorporate, add more if needed to reach a creamy but not too soupy consistency. Adjust seasonings if needed.

4. Place mixture into a casserole dish, top with remaining 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Bake at 350' for 35-45 minutes until hot and bubbly. If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil. Or you can cover and freeze unbaked up to 6 months, or refrigerate unbaked up to 2 days.

credit: The Pioneer Woman, click here for original source