I tend to turn to spaghetti when I need a quick, last-minute meal that I know the whole family will love, and honestly, that usually only consists of browning some meat, opening a jar of sauce, and boiling some noodles. Not so exciting, right? Well this spaghetti dinner is a little more inspired and yet it only takes just over a half-hour from start to finish. It’s a creamy, comforting bake full of healthy spinach, hearty chicken, and plenty of garlicky alfredo flavor. It’s spaghetti night done different, but I can promise you that it comes with the same guarantee that the whole family will be happy when they sit down to the table.
This is a layered sort of affair, so your first step will be to boil the noodles a minute or two less than the package tells you to (they’ll keep cooking in the oven and you don’t want mushy noodles) and to mix them with some spinach, cooked chicken, and alfredo sauce. Half of that mixture goes into a baking dish, and that gets topped with a quick mix of ricotta, sour cream, mozzarella, and a couple of other goodies. (As if the alfredo wasn’t creamy enough, right?)
INGREDIENTS
1 lb spaghetti
4 oz fresh baby spinach, chopped
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
2 (15 oz) jars Alfredo sauce
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 large egg, beaten
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray.
Cook spaghetti until just al dente, usually 1-2 minutes less than package directions call for. Drain and return to pot.
Add spinach, chicken, and Alfredo sauce to pot and stir into spaghetti. Spread half of the mixture into prepared baking dish.
To a medium bowl, add the ricotta, sour cream, half of the mozzarella, egg, garlic, basil, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
Spread ricotta mixture over spaghetti and top with remaining spaghetti.
Top evenly with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake until golden and bubbly, 20-25 minutes.
Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
