Well, what can I say about this recipe?? It looked like an easy recipe but, it turned out being a little complicated. Lots of dishes were used, and the clean up was just off. It was a recipe that I found, and just happened to have most of the ingredients already in pantry, so I tried something new....
* 8 OZ uncooked rigatoni (we didn't have this, so I just used the 2 leftover boxes I found in pantry - the spiral noodles)
* 1 T of olive oil (Ok, I'm not an experienced cook so what is T?? Teaspoon or Tablespoon - gesshhh)
* 1 c chopped onion (I was assuming "c" meant cup)
* 1 (10oz) pack of frozen spinach, thawed (I threw it in microwave and cooked it for 4 minutes - that was my way of thawing it)
* 3 c cubed, cooked chicken breasts (didn't have any chicken breasts so used tenderloins. Didn't cook enough so I made my cubes very small)
* 1 (14 oz of Italian - style diced tomatoes, undrained - I used rotel and some stewed tomatoes cut up- that's what was in the pantry)
* 1 (8 oz) container of Philadelphia chive & onion cream cheese (I only had regular cream cheese - it would have been soooo much better to have the chive & onion one)
* 1/2 T salt, 1/2 T pepper (I absolutely LOVE pepper but I tell ya, this was waaayyy too much pepper.... It's actually ALL I tasted... I would suggest not using that much pepper)
Now this is where it got complicated. The directions were just so hard to follow that I had to re-read and re-read. So I'm going to just include what the original recipe said, then I will add my opinion afterwards.
Prepare rigatoni according to pkg directions. Spread oil on bottom of 11×17 in baking dish; add onion in a single layer. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or just until tender. Transfer onion to large bowl, set aside.
Drain chopped spinach well, pressing between paper towels. Stir in rigatoni, spinach, chicken, & next 4 ingredients into onion in bowl. Spoon mixture into dish & sprinkle evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake covered at 375 for 30 minutes; uncover & bake 15 more minutes or until bubbly.
My suggestion is to spread the oil on bottom of baking dish, add onion in single layer. Cook 15 to 20 minutes on 375. Place onions in a large bowl. Set aside. Drain the spinach using paper towels. Put the spinach in large bowl with onions. Throw the cooked pasta, cooked chicken, philadelphia cream cheese, salt, and pepper into the same large bowl. Stir it up -- it helps if the noodles are still warm because it helps to melt the cream cheese. Spoon mixture into a baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes or until bubbly.
I will have to say for the most part that this was a quick meal. I'm not sure what happened with the pepper taste. But it's all i could taste!! My husband wasn't home so I will find out if he likes it tonight -- since there is a whole lot of leftovers!!
For more information on recipe: http://www.savingmoneylivinglife.com/2010/06/chicken-spinach-pasta-bake.html
The picture in the link above is pretty darn accurate to what it looked like!!
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