Michelle's Kitchen Diaries: Three-Cheese Chicken Spinach Penne Pasta Bake

Three-Cheese Chicken Spinach Penne Pasta Bake

The first time I made this dish was at Megan's house and that was probably our first time baking/cooking together too!!! This is such an easy dish to make and I recently made it this weekend with my boyfriend and his friends! The recipe was found on Kraft.com.

******I tweaked the recipe to make more than 4 servings and placed it in a 13x9 pan! Probably served over 12 people!

Recipe below calls for an 8x8 baking dish and serves 4.

Total time: 45 minutes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Yields: 4 serving

Ingredients:

1 box of multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked

1 pkg (9oz) fresh spinach leaves

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces or to speed things up- buy a roasted chicken from Costco and shred into big chunks.

1 tsp dried basil leaves

1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

1 jar (14 oz) spaghetti sauce ( Prego sauce Chunky Garden)

2 oz (1/4 of 8 oz pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufachatel Cheese, cubed)

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided

2 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package and adding spinach to the boiling water for the last minute

Meanwhile, cook and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet. Stir in tomatoes and spaghetti sauce; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufachatel.

Drain pasta; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella; pour into casserole sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 20 min or until heated through; top with remaining cheese. Bake 3 min or until mozzarella is melted.

Serving suggestion:

Served with spring mix salad and Kraft olive oil Italian vinaigrette or Mandarin Spring Dressing

Rustic Roasted Garlic Bread from Costco.