The Mister and I have both been nursing wicked colds all week. I'm finally getting my appetite back and decided that a big batch of chicken spaghetti would be just the thing to revive my neglected taste buds. Most of the recipes I came across centered around cans of cream-o'-crap and a big block of Velveeta. I'm not a fan of either, so I was excited to see that a blogger had created a version of this dish with a cheddar sauce. The outcome was delicious!
Note: I went ahead and baked my spaghetti, which makes for a drier dish. You are free to just mix everything in the pot and skip that step if you'd like. If you want to bake it but prefer a saucier casserole, I would recommend upping the liquids by about a cup.
Also, a lot of cooks use poached and shredded chicken breast for this dish. I opted to dice my chicken, season it with seasoned salt, cumin, and chili powder, and sear it on the stovetop.
Adapted from Lauren's Latest
INGREDIENTS
3/4 lb. thin spaghetti
3 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, diced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chiles, drained
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt & pepper, to taste
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook spaghetti to al dente and drain.
Meanwhile, melt butter and saute onions until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and milk to prevent lumps. Increase heat to medium high. Allow to bubble until sauce thickens.
Reduce heat to medium low. Sprinkle in shredded cheese a bit at a time, stirring continuously until melted into sauce. Stir in cumin, salt, pepper, Rotel, chicken, and cooked spaghetti. Toss to coat everything evenly in sauce.
Pour into greased 9 X 13 glass dish. Bake 30 minutes.
