Chicken Spaghetti

My mom makes the best chicken tetrazzini in the world.  Mine never tastes as good, and I dirty so many dishes.  I thought I would try chicken spaghetti as it uses many of the same ingredients.  I bookmarked this one from The Pioneer Woman last year and have been waiting for my chicken tetrazzini craving to hit.  My Mom mentioned she wanted to make some chicken tetrazzini, but I still have her recipe file at my house so she couldn't.  Sorry Mom!  This conversation left me with a craving, and I'm so glad.

I made very few adjustments since Ree's recipes are perfect as is.  I saved some time by using a rotisserie chicken and chicken bouillon cubes.  At first, I was going to cut the recipe in half, but I guess my ingredients just kept growing, so my sauce did too.  I made a huge casserole dish of chicken spaghetti for dinner last night, and froze another smaller casserole.  Maybe I will save it for the next time my mom comes to visit.  She better come over soon because I don't know how long it will remain in the freezer since my family loved it. 

Ingredients:

2 rotisserie chicken breasts and 2 thighs, cut  or shred into pieces
3/4 lb thin spaghetti, broken into thirds
8 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
4 oz jar diced pimentos (I did not use)
2 cups reserved chicken broth (from cooking spaghetti)
kosher salt
black pepper
garlic powder
cayenne pepper (optional)
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (reserve 1 cup for topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Fill large stock pot with 8 cups water and add chicken bouillon.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Add the spaghetti and cook for 5 minutes, or until al dente.  Reserve 2 cups of the chicken broth and drain spaghetti.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, cooked spaghetti, soups, green pepper, onion, pimentos, 1 1/2 cups cheese, and 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth.  Add more broth as needed.  You want the mixture to be fairly thin and stirable, and it will thicken up while baking.  Taste and season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder as needed.

Transfer mixture into prepared casserole dish and top with remaining 1 cup cheese.  Cover with a lid or foil.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Uncover and cook another 15-20.  We topped ours with a dollop of sour cream.  Enjoy!