Spinach Artichoke Pasta with Grilled Chicken

This was one of my recent recipe experiments thanks to Pinterest. I stumbled across the recipe and thought it was worth a try given that we all love Spinach Artichoke appetizer at restaurants.

I have to say, this one didn’t disappoint.  It was really, really good. So much so that Big Girl decided to have leftovers for dinner the next night instead of what we had already planned for dinner… and she ate two helpings. of leftovers.

Yeah, it’s that good.

This makes A LOT of food. So much so that I shared a healthy portion with our neighbors for their dinner the night I made it and we still had some leftovers.  So, save this for a meal when you’re having folks over or make it and give some away like we did. Your friends will love you if you do.

I don’t have a picture – it didn’t last long enough for me to get one – but here is the one on the Pinterest link:

I used ziti pasta instead of the bowtie you see here.  I don’t think it really matters. You could even use linguine if you wanted. Whatever you have on hand. It’s merely a vehicle to get the luscious sauce into your mouth.

I also added some grilled chicken that wasn’t in the original recipe. I marinated it in some Italian dressing and then grilled it, cut it up and added the bite-sized pieces to the mixture as I added the pasta.

It was a hearty and filling dinner, a one-stop cornucopia of goodness for your mouth and your body.

Spinach Artichoke Pasta with Grilled Chicken

Ingredients:

2-3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Italian Dressing
Houston House Seasoning

1 12 ounce box of pasta

1 tsp butter
2 Tbs minced garlic (about 2-3 cloves)
1 8 oz package reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 lemon, juiced (I used about 1-2 tsp of lemon juice)
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts (packed in water) drained & chopped
10 oz chopped frozen spinach, thawed, with as much water squeezed out as possible
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Additional parmesan for serving

Instructions:

1. Marinate chicken breasts in Italian Seasoning & sprinkled with Houston House Seasoning for about 1 hour.
2. Cook pasta.
3. While pasta is cooking, grill chicken. (or sauté in a skillet)
4. Cut cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
5. In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt butter and add garlic. Cook for about 30-45 seconds, being careful not to scorch garlic.
6. Add cream cheese, stir until melted and combined with garlic.
7. Slowly add milk, whisking it gently into the cream cheese.
8. Add sour cream, lemon juice, salt & pepper flakes. Combine, being careful not to boil the mixture as the sour cream can curdle.
9. Add in the artichoke hearts, grilled chicken, parmesan cheese. Mix to combine – you can turn off the heat here.
10. Drain pasta.
11. Add the pasta (if your saucepan is big enough) and stir to combine.
12. Season with additional salt & lemon juice as desired (I needed both)
13. Serve topped with additional parmesan.