Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Chicken Spaghetti


The best part of chicken spaghetti is...leftovers!!!! I loosely took this recipe from my River Roads Cookbook. I was making this while Kaitlin was making Parmesan Twists and I had to make something worthy of her twists.
River Roads was initially printed in 1959, so many of the recipes call for "bacon grease" or "lard". The quantities, well, the norm is 12 to 14 people. There's even a section in there which has now become tradition in later editions, "How Men Cook". The biggest kicker is how each recipe is credited and recipes are stilled credited the same way in this century, I guess it's Southern tradition. The recipes by women are not credited Jane Doe, but Mrs. John Doe or Mrs. Joe Public. I've heard rumblings that the Junior League of Baton Rouge may change this tradition and include the woman's name and not the husband's name but it will be a hard fought battle.
Chicken Spaghetti -
1 lb. of No. 4 spaghetti, cooked and drained.
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 onion chopped
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
3 scallions chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley chopped
1 14 ounce can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel Tomatoes
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/2 cups grated Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
Boil the chicken in seasoned water (salt, bay leaves, thyme, garlic, cayenne) for about 10 minutes. Remove chicken from water to cool and save broth. Shred chicken using 2 forks pulling in opposite directions. Set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is heated, add the onions and bell peppers. Let the veggies saute for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the garlic, scallions and parsley and saute for another 3 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, Rotel tomatoes and one cup of chicken broth. Stir to combine and reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for 30 minutes.
While sauce is simmering, cook spaghetti and grease a 9x13 casserole dish with one tablespoon of butter.
Place the cooked and drained spaghetti in the casserole dish, sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the spaghetti. Pour the chicken and sauce over the spaghetti and top with Parmigiana-Reggiano and bake for 30 minutes. Then place dish under the broiler for 2 minutes so the top will get crunchy.
Mama Mia this smells so good while it's baking, people will start hovering in the kitchen wanting to know how much longer until dinner and then they will moan and whine that they can't wait 20 more minutes.

14 comments:

gigi said...

If you get sick or someone dies my friend always takes this dish. It's kind of funny she'll always volunteer this because it feeds so many. As I was reading this I could smell it right thru the screen. Have a nice day.

John Roberts said...

Chicken spaghetti was a big favorite at church fund raising suppers when I lived in rural north Louisiana. It's just simple, filling food, and delicious! Mrs. John Roberts cooks this sometimes; I'll have to get her to try this version. BTW, what's wrong with bacon grease?

Debbie said...

Looks very good and I bet this went great with the parmesan twists!!! Love big casseroles since they are fantastic leftovers!

April said...

I have never had chicken spaghetti! Sounds easy enough, and sounds like something I can try on my kids.

Maria said...

I love leftovers so Josh can take them for his lunch!! I will have to make this for him!

Marjie said...

Looks like a great "make it and forget it" thing. I love the old cookbooks, and I like being "Mrs. MBM", although sometimes it's nice to be just me. And what's wrong with recipes for 12? Hereabouts, that would be, like, Tuesday dinner!

Aggie said...

Oh Katherine that sounds delicious! I never put chicken in my spaghetti! I'll have to try this out on the fam one night!

Unknown said...

I have never had Chicken Spaghetti before, but I'm pretty sure I will now. Along with the Pumpkin Pasta and the Jack Flat Iron Steaks.

Thanks so much for blogging. I think I'm in love :) g

Veronica said...

I've never had chicken spaghetti, but I sure do like the sound of it-seems like an easy dish and I'm actually always looking for recipes to serve 12-14. Oh and I'm not ashamed to admit that I think bacon grease rocks.(I don't use it often...but boy it makes stuff taste good!)

Pam said...

I've never made chicken spaghetti before but I will be trying it soon. This recipe (along with the parmesan twists) looks like a perfect meal.

Reeni said...

I love chicken spaghetti!! Yours looks fantastic and with those Parmesan twists, yummy. I'm moaning and groaning, too!

priscilla joy said...

this looks so good! these kind of dishes are the BEST!

NKP said...

Chicken Spaghetti sounds wonderful. I could use some, right about now...
It is so funny about the Mrs. John Doe, you don't hear that much in Canada. Everyone is so busy trying to be fair and equal.

Anonymous said...

have never had chicken spaghetti but i can imagine what it's like. my mom makes a mean eggplant one that i need to try myself. this reminded me of it.