Chicken Spinach Tortellini Bake

I’m pretty sure there’s nothing as good as pasta and cheese. In just about any combination. This little casserole is so yummy and so easy! Plus...with a pregnant daughter who can’t hardly stand to get in the kitchen and cook anything, a casserole that normally would go into a 9x13 inch pan, gets split into two 9x9 inch pans so I can give one to her. IT Guy and I certainly don’t need all that food so it works all the way around. I had this dish thrown together in less than 30 minutes and it only baked for a few minutes then dinner was done!

Chicken Spinach Tortellini Bake

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

2 cups chopped, fresh spinach

1 12-ounce package cheese tortellini ~ cooked and drained (reserve about 1 cup pasta water)

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic ~ minced

3 tablespoons flour

6 strips bacon ~ diced

2 cups milk

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, cook diced bacon until crispy. Remove to a plate to drain. Reserve drippings.

Saute the garlic in the bacon drippings for about 1 minute.

Add the flour and whisk for a minute or so.

Pour in the milk and cook and stir until smooth.

Stir in the salt, pepper and lemon juice. Turn off heat.

Add 3/4 cups of both cheeses and stir until cheeses melt then stir in the chopped spinach.

Gently stir in the diced, cooked chicken and the cooked tortellini.

Add a little bit of the reserved pasta water to thin out the mixture, if needed.

Pour mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle with remaining cheeses.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until hot.

How about we make a casserole?

Dice the bacon then fry it up crisp. Remove it from the pan when done.

Add the garlic into the bacon 

drippings and cook for a minute or so.

Now add the flour and cook 

and stir until smooth.

Add the milk.

And the lemon juice, salt and 

pepper and cook until thickened.

Add 3/4 cup of each of the cheeses. 

Stir until melted.

Stir in the chopped spinach.

Next stir in the cooked tortellini 

and the cooked, diced chicken.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan(s) then sprinkle with remaining cheeses.

Bake and serve!

Good For You Chicken Soup

Don't let the name of this soup fool you because it's SO good! In an attempt to be somewhat healthy one night (HA!) for dinner, I threw together this soup for the fam. Usually I love a cream based soup but let me tell you that I didn't miss it one bit! I had TWO bowls of this yumminess without blinking an eye! This is a perfect thing to keep on hand during the colder months when you need something quick to knock the chill off. I put my spinach in using the whole leaves but if you're not that big of a spinach fan, then by all means, cut it into smaller pieces. The next time I make it, I may add some tomatoes. Whichever way you do it....just do it!

Good For You Chicken Soup



2 chicken breasts ~ sliced in half horizontally
2 yellow squash ~ large dice
1 - 2 zucchini ~ large dice
1 small red onion ~ diced
1 clove garlic ~ minced
1 cup large diced carrots
2 cups large diced Yukon Gold potatoes
2 32-ounce containers chicken stock
3 handfuls fresh spinach
Salt & pepper to taste

Season chicken with salt and pepper (I also used an all purpose seasoning).

Heat a grill pan over medium heat and cook chicken on both sides until done. About 5 - 6 minutes per side.

Remove from the heat and allow chicken to sit in the pan.

In a large dutch oven, drizzle a little olive oil then add the diced onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Add in the rest of the veggies, chicken stock some salt and pepper (and more seasoning, if desired) and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are done.

Remove from heat.

Cut chicken into large diced pieces and add to the pot.

Stir in the spinach and stir to combine and heat through.

 

It's soup makin' time!

 

Season and grill your chicken.

 

Saute the onion and garlic in some olive oil.

 

Then throw in the rest of your veggies.

 

Then add the chicken stock. 

Cook for 30 minutes.

 

Finally add the diced, cooked chicken 

and the spinach. Stir and heat through.

 

YUM!

Shrimp Spinach Pasta

My daughter in law was over the other day and she brought in a couple of things....shrimp (YUM!) and fresh spinach...(not so yum but okay). I knew I had to use it up so I threw this dish together with some other stuff I had lurking in my pantry. What a nice surprise! This really takes very little time to make and even though IT Guy is not a seafood guy, my DIL and I enjoyed this immensely! The only thing lacking was some crusty french bread...which I didn't have. This is easy-peasy and super good!

Shrimp Spinach Pasta



8 ounces angel hair pasta ~ cooked, drained and set aside
2 cups frozen, cleaned, cooked shrimp ~ tails removed, thawed
1 small onion ~ diced
2 cloves garlic ~ minced
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
4 ounces cream cheese ~ room temperature
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup half & half
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
3 cups fresh spinach ~ washed and dried
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt one tablespoon of the butter then add the onion, garlic and bell pepper. Saute about 5 minutes.

Add in the broth, half & half, cream cheese and salt and pepper to your liking. Stir to combine over medium heat until cream cheese has melted and mixture is thick....about 5 - 7 minutes.

Add the grated Parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Stir to melt cheese.

Add the shrimp and stir to combine then turn off the heat and allow to sit on the warm burner.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining butter then add the spinach and some salt and pepper. Stir until spinach has wilted, about a minute or so.

Add wilted spinach to shrimp mixture.

Add cooked pasta to shrimp/spinach mixture and stir to combine.

 

Here we go!

 

Saute the garlic, pepper and onion for a bit.

 

Then add in the cream cheese, broth, 

half & half and salt and pepper. 

Cook until hot and cream cheese has melted.

 

Throw in the Parmesan 

cheese and lemon juice.

 

Then add the shrimp. Turn off 

the heat and cover.

 

In a saucepan, wilt the spinach 

with the remaining butter.

 

Add the spinach to the shrimp mixture...

 

...then add in the pasta.

 

Serve and enjoy!

I had to go pantry pillaging the other day. I couldn't get out of the house to go to the store so I knew I had to rely on my mad culinary skills to pull me through. I scored when I found some Italian sausage and some ravioli in the freezer and some canned tomatoes in the pantry. A few staples thrown in and I had a winner!! And so easy!! That was the best part!

Skillet Ravioli with Italian 
Sausage and Spinach



1 pound Italian sausage ~ mild or spicy
1 small onion ~ diced
1 clove garlic ~ minced
1 pound frozen cheese ravioli
1 10-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 cups baby spinach ~ torn
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook ravioli in boiling salted water until done. Set aside.

In a large skillet, saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil until soft...about 5 minutes.

Add sausage and cook until done.

Add seasonings and stir.

Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and stir.

Add torn spinach and simmer for 20 minutes until spinach is wilted.

Add cooked ravioli and stir.

The cast of characters. My canned 

 tomatoes had garlic included so I left the fresh out.

Saute the onion and garlic until 

soft then add the sausage.

Brown the meat and and the seasonings.

Add the tomatoes and the chicken stock.

Add the torn spinach and allow 

the mixture to simmer until the spinach has wilted.

Then add the COOKED ravioli!

Sprinkle with some parm and eat!

Kielbasa and Potato Chowder

Cold weather is finally here! And you know what that means? More soup!! We eat soup year 'round but more so in the winter months. This made a nice big, comforting pot of creamy goodness and we were very disappointed when it was all gone. This is really, REALLY good!
Kielbasa and Potato Chowder
 
14 ounce package kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1/2-inch "coins" then cut "coins" in half
5 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 32-ounce containers chicken broth
2 1/2 cups water ~ divided use
1/4 cup flour
3 medium potatoes, cubed
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon
1/2 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste
2/3 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 cup heavy whipping cream
In a skillet, brown kielbasa and bacon. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender.
In a large pot, bring broth and 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the potatoes, bouillon, salt and pepper. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Combine remaining 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup flour until smooth. Add to the pot to thicken the chowder.
Add the meat mixture and spinach. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Reduce heat.
Add the cream and cook until heated through.
 
Here's the stuff. You see 3 potatoes 
in this picture but because they were 
so big, I only used two of them.
 
Cut the kielbasa then brown with the bacon.
 
Then add the onion and garlic 
and cook until tender.
 
Bring the broth and water to boil. 
Add the potatoes, bullion, salt and 
 pepper. Cook until potatoes are tender. 
Then combine the remaining water 
 and cornstarch and pour into the pot
 to thicken the liquid.
 
Add the meat mixture and spinach 
and cook a few minutes. Then add 
the cream and heat through.
 
Serve with warm, crusty bread. Mmmmm.....
Copyright © 2012 Simple Fare, Fairly Simple. All rights reserved.

I ran across little bags of filled mezzaluna shaped pasta the other day. I liked the name so much I decided to buy some and figure out what to do with them later. Do you know what a mezzaluna is? It's a knife with a curved blade and a handle on each end.  Huh...who knew. Anyway....the soup was delish! And relatively healthy, too. All kinds of goodies in there but easy enough to change up if you want. Give it a try...I think you'll be happy with the end result and the fact that it's SO easy!

Mezzaluna Soup



1 rotisserie chicken, rough chopped - or 3 cups cooked, chopped chicken
2 32-ounce containers chicken stock
1 small onion - diced
2 cloves garlic - minced
3 - 4 carrots - diced
2 cups chopped, fresh spinach
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon poultry seasonings
Salt and pepper to taste
1 8-ounce bag cheese filled mezzaluna ravioli

In a large pot, saute the onion, garlic and carrots until tender.

Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil and add the chopped chicken and the chopped spinach.

Simmer for an hour or so.

The last 15 minutes, add the mezzaluna ravioli and cook until done.

Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Here you go. You see two packages of pasta here and I did use two. BUT...you do NOT need two. One would have been plenty. In fact, using two soaked up a lot of the liquid. Just use one package.

Saute the onions, carrots and garlic until tender. Throw some zucchini in there if you want to live dangerously!

Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Bring that to a low boil....

...then add the chicken and spinach. Simmer for an hour or so.

Then add the one bag of pasta. Or two if you want REALLY thick soup.

Mmmm...so good!

And just for fun....here's a picture of a mezzaluna!