Spinach Chicken Stuffed Shells
I am a big pasta fan but unfortunately my family is more the meat and potatoes type. However, they're pretty tolerate of pasta as a side dish and I settle for that. I have been craving a spinach stuffed pasta for about two weeks now and really haven't gotten a chance to make it. Today, my brother decided to make beer can chicken but I was afraid it wouldn't be enough to feed our family of 5. I decided now would the perfect time to make my stuffed shells. I have been looking around Pinterest.com and FoodGawker.com for ideas and came up with this recipe. I hope you enjoy it just as much as my family did.
The Goods:
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 bag (10 oz) of fresh spinach
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
4 tbl of butter
4 oz cream cheese, soften
20 jumbo shells
1 1/3 cup of Italian cheese mix or parmigiana and mozzarella
salt
The How To:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook jumbo shells in salted water until al dente (the pasta will finish cooking while it's in the oven). Drain, separate and set aside.
In a medium pan, saute garlic and shallot in 1 tablespoon of butter until soften. Melt remaining butter in pan. Roughly chop up spinach leaves and saute with garlic, shallot and butter until completely wilted. Add chicken and season with salt. Add mixture into a bowl with soften cream cheese and mix thoroughly to combine. Mix in one cup of Italian cheese mix. At this point, you would want to taste the filling to make sure it's suitable. Stuff shells with filling and place in lightly buttered casserole dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup of cheese and bake until golden brown.
Note: I believe this would be enough for a family of four with a side salad and maybe some garlic bread. I'm sure you can tweak it a little to make a larger servings. This dish is also good made ahead and then thawed out sometime during the week for a quick dinner. It will obviously take a little longer in the oven and I recommend pouring just a bit of water in the dish to avoid drying out the pasta while it cooks. Also, the filling would also make a great dip!
Happy Dining!
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| Spinach and chicken stuffed shells |
The Goods:
1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 bag (10 oz) of fresh spinach
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
4 tbl of butter
4 oz cream cheese, soften
20 jumbo shells
1 1/3 cup of Italian cheese mix or parmigiana and mozzarella
salt
The How To:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook jumbo shells in salted water until al dente (the pasta will finish cooking while it's in the oven). Drain, separate and set aside.
In a medium pan, saute garlic and shallot in 1 tablespoon of butter until soften. Melt remaining butter in pan. Roughly chop up spinach leaves and saute with garlic, shallot and butter until completely wilted. Add chicken and season with salt. Add mixture into a bowl with soften cream cheese and mix thoroughly to combine. Mix in one cup of Italian cheese mix. At this point, you would want to taste the filling to make sure it's suitable. Stuff shells with filling and place in lightly buttered casserole dish, cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup of cheese and bake until golden brown.
Note: I believe this would be enough for a family of four with a side salad and maybe some garlic bread. I'm sure you can tweak it a little to make a larger servings. This dish is also good made ahead and then thawed out sometime during the week for a quick dinner. It will obviously take a little longer in the oven and I recommend pouring just a bit of water in the dish to avoid drying out the pasta while it cooks. Also, the filling would also make a great dip!
Happy Dining!
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