Ewey Gooey Ummy Yummy Goodness

So, I found this recipe on Pinterest. Ha, like you've never heard that one before, right? The twist: the recipe I pinned is not this one. The original recipe that I was looking at took me to a link that took me to another link and somehow along the way I ran across this recipe called Mom's Baked Chicken & Spinach Pasta by Bitchin Camero. The writer started off talking about how she had been training for a marathon for months and that this recipe was the perfect meal to carb load on the night before she was to race. Yippee skipee for her! Here's my reality. I do NOT run anywhere if I can help it, ever. In fact, I didn't even read most of the blog once I read the word marathon, I just skipped down to the bottom where there were more friendly words like Chicken, Pasta and Cheese. Comfort food. Need I say more? 

If you know me, you know that this bloggity blogging food stuff is going to be very difficult for me for several reasons. First of all, I do not follow directions well. That's not entirely true, let me rephrase. I follow the directions, I just make up some of my own as I go along. This makes it very difficult to ever share my recipes because I don't exactly know what all I threw into the pot and since I tend to "eyeball" all my ingredients measurements are especially tricky for me. Secondly, whenever I'm in the kitchen I'm in cooking mode (blame culinary school for that one) and I tend to be a very one track-minded person, so stopping periodically to take random pictures of the food is totally against my OCD self. All that in mind, the fact this is now a blog, with pictures, is nothing shy of a miracle.

First things first, the ingredients. You will need one pound of pasta shells. The original recipe calls for whole wheat shells, however, in my house we do not like chewy whole wheat pasta, and the gluten in regular pasta seems to be easier for my family to digest than the whole wheat version (mild wheat allergies and such). Also, at this time I'm more interested in yummy comfort food and less interested in health. Bad me.

You will also need about 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast and 8-10 cloves of garlic. This will make your house smell ah-maz-ing. Don't worry, you will soon also smell strongly of garlic so you will not notice its prenounced presence in your house after awhile. Next comes salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, spinach, white wine and mozzarella cheese.

This is where I get to add a little side note about cooking with wine. Wine is not something that is consumed in my parents house, nor is it consumed by most of the people that I know. However, here's a tip. If you don't drink wine and don't want to purchase an entire bottle for one recipe, simply buy the 4 pack of mini bottles. Since most recipes only call for 1/4 to 1/2 cup wine then these little bottles are perfect and you can store the remaining bottles for, well, just about forever.  I once asked a very prominent chef what to substitute for wine and he asked why I would want to do that. Majority of the alcohol cooks out (not all, but what is left is about the equivalent of what you would absorb from gargling with Listerine) and it adds an amazing pungency and depth of flavor that you can't really accomplish any other way. Still not convinced, simply substitute the wine for chicken stock.

Please, please, PLEASE salt your pasta water before adding the pasta. Pasta is very bland on its own and this is the only chance that you will have to give it any kind of flavor. So please, do not skip this step. Also, the original recipe calls for salt as its only seasoning. Being the person I am, that just simply would not do, so I added fresh ground black pepper for more seasoning and some red pepper flakes for a bit of a kick. Taste your pasta before you put it into the baking dish and adjust the seasonings as needed, because once in the dish and baked, it is too late.

When I make this again, I will modify one other thing, the amount of spinach. I used the 5 cups called for, but I really like my spinach to have a presence in the dish, and it was pretty scarce in this one. I would add 2-3 more cups. But that's my preference. Also, the original recipe called for the spinach to be chopped, but I added it whole because it wilts down to nothing as is, and like I said, I like my spinach to have a presence.

Oh, and I added a whole cup extra of cheese, because, well, I could.

The result: a big pan full of ewey gooey ummy yummy goodness that is still somewhat good for you. Seriously, this dish had amazing flavor and totally fills that need for a big bowl of cheesy pasta comfort food without being too creamy or heavy.

But, if you're carb loading for a big run and would prefer the original version, here's the link:

http://www.bitchincamero.com/2010/02/moms-baked-chicken-spinach-pasta/

Baked Chicken & Spinach Pasta

1 lb pasta shells

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

1/4 C olive oil

8-10 cloves of garlic

1 tsp salt (more or less to taste), extra for pasta water

1 tsp black pepper (more or less to taste)

1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (if desired)

5-7 C fresh spinach

1/4 C dry white wine (I just used my whole mini-bottle)

3 C mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Bring large pot of water to boil, salt it and add pasta. Cook pasta to al dente. Drain.

While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken. Brown chicken on all sides - about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook till softened - about 3 minutes.

Add wine, spinach, salt, pepper and pepper flakes to skillet and cook until spinach is wilted - 3-5 minutes. Add cooked pasta and toss together. Pour contents of skillet into ungreased 3qt casserole dish. Cover with cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly brown.

Makes about 8 servings