Whenever I make spaghetti and meatballs, I never seem to be able to make the right amount of spaghetti. There’s always some leftover. When the meatballs are gone, it usually will just linger in the fridge until it’s time to toss it. I have found a delicious solution for leftover spaghetti, which got rave reviews at my table.

I tripled my leftover power in this recipe, using leftover chicken and leftover butternut squash. You can poach a chicken breast to use if you don’t have leftovers. The squash can be replaced with leftover acorn squash, or with fresh asparagus.

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Pie

Serves 4

 

Crust:

1 ½ cups cooked spaghetti

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon heavy cream

¼ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon lemon juice

 

Filling:
1 clove garlic, minced

½ tablespoon butter

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup skim milk

¼ cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1 tablespoon for topping

Heaping ½ cup cooked chicken cut into ½ inch squares (this is equal to about one boneless skinless breast)

Pinch of nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cup cooked butternut squash, cut into ½ inch pieces

 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 9 inch pie pan with cooking spray or by rubbing with oil or butter.
2. Mix the spaghetti with the mozzarella, 1 tablespoon cream, onion powder, lemon juice, and salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Add the pasta mix to the pie pan, spreading it around and up the sides. There will be some holes and you won’t have a solid ‘crust.’
4. In a skillet, cook the garlic in the butter over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
5. Stir in the cream and milk and let it bubble, then stir in the cheese and stir until it melts and thickens the sauce.
6. Stir in the chicken and squash.
7. Pour over the crust. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
8. Bake for 30 minutes.

Whenever I make spaghetti and meatballs, I never seem to be able to make the right amount of spaghetti. There’s always some leftover. When the meatballs are gone, it usually will just linger in the fridge until it’s time to toss it. I have found a delicious solution for leftover spaghetti, which got rave reviews … Read more →