Parmesan Spaghetti Bake

This recipe is pretty much spaghetti taken to the next level. But a level down from Million Dollar Spaghetti.

I will specify that this recipe requires grated parmesan cheese (like, the kind in the can/plastic container), which I bring from America, because it's really expensive to buy here. And you'll also notice in the above picture that we had the added bonus of some deli style sliced pepperoni that my mom brought over for us from America. But prior to that very welcome addition to our pantry, I'd made this recipe several times with just cheese on top and no pepperoni, and it was still great! 

I normally use spaghetti noodles in this recipe, but when I went to make it last week I was out of spaghetti and only had linguine. However, I think I liked the linguine even better! But you can use any pasta you wish - spaghetti, linguine, fettucini, even shaped pasta like penne or rotini. Whatever you have on hand!

VEGETABLE BONUS - I add a big handful of chopped spinach right into the sauce, and you'd never even notice taste wise! You could also add some grated zucchini into this as you're browning the chicken, but most recently I served this with THIS ZUCCHINI on the side and it was delightful.

To make your spaghetti sauce, you can obviously spend the big bucks to get a jar of Ragu, or use an Indian version of spaghetti sauce, or you can make your own using tomato puree and some basic spices - Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Oregano, Basil, Parsley, Salt & a little Sugar.

I have another one of those "I don't measure my ingredients" confessions here. Ahem, I don't measure the amount of each spice I put in. I said it, and I'm sorry. I did take a picture to give you an idea:

Ok, you can't really see the sugar (I add about a tsp or two, just to take the bite off of the tomato), and about a half tsp of salt. You also can't see the onion powder or garlic powder. But in the picture, the top spice is the oregano, the one to the right is the basil, and the bottom is the parsley. Proportionally, I use the most of garlic powder (because I love garlic), and oregano (because it adds that super Italian-y flavor). Just add spices until it smells like spaghetti sauce, yeah? Give it a taste and adjust as needed.

Ok, here are the full directions!

Parmesan Spaghetti Bake

250 grams of pasta

1 lb chicken keema (ground chicken)

1-2 boxes of tomato puree

Spices for sauce (see above)

2-3 TBS of butter

1/3 - 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

Shredded "pizza cheese" (mozzarella) for topping

Boil your pasta according to the package directions.

Brown your chicken keema in a pot until it is cooked through. Add the tomato puree and spices to the chicken (or canned spaghetti sauce). Warm until heated through. 

When your pasta is done cooking, drain it, and then transfer back into the pot. Add the butter and grated parmesan cheese and stir well. Grease a small casserole dish, then pour the pasta into the dish. Next pour the spaghetti sauce over the pasta and smooth out evenly. Sprinkle the top with grated pizza cheese (and pepperoni as a bonus!). 

Bake at 170 degrees Celsius (350 F) for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese on top is melted and the whole thing is heated through.
Double the recipe for a 9x13 size casserole, although you could still only use 1 lb. of chicken and have it be more sauce heavy vs. meat heavy. 

Million Dollar Spaghetti

This is a recipe that I saw floating around on Pinterest for awhile, but after reading it, I abandoned it as an option for India since it called for cream cheese and cottage cheese.

But lucky for us, my friend Christina figured out how to India-fy this one and it is so delicious!

It's rich and oh so cheesy - a crowd pleaser for sure!

So here's Christina with her Million Dollar Spaghetti method!

Million Dollar Spaghetti

Original Recipe

Serves 6-8 people

• 1 lb of Chicken Keema

• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce - or I make my own (instructions below)

• 8 oz of cream cheese or a similar substitute

• ¼ cup dahi

• 1 cup (200 grams) of paneer; you can either crumble it by hand or shred it and it will cook up great!

• ½ cup butter (1 stick) - this is just approximate, no need to measure it out, you’ll just be adding slices of butter as you go

• 1 pkg spaghetti 16 oz - this equals about 500 g

• Grated "Pizza Cheese", or gouda cheese, or a combination of the two.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Boil your spaghetti noodles until al dente (firm). Drain and set aside until ready to assemble. Be careful not to let the noodles clump together when cooking. You can really taste this in the dish once it’s all done. If they do clump together when cooking, go ahead and separate them out as best you can by hand or with a fork.
2. Combine the cream cheese, dahi, and crumbled paneer until well blended. If any of your ingredients here are too hard to blend, you can put these in the microwave for a little bit of time. It will soften them and make everything easier to mix together.
3. Brown your chicken keema and combine with spaghetti sauce.
4. Put a few slices of butter into a 9x13 pan then pour half of your spaghetti noodles on top.
5. Take your cream cheese mixture and pour on top of the noodles. Spread well over noodles. If the consistency is too tough to spread, you can add a little more dahi to thin the mixture out a bit.
6. Pour the rest of the noodles on top of the cream cheese mixture. Put a few more slices of butter on top of the noodles.
7. Pour your spaghetti and meat sauce on top of your noodles. I like to make sure to cover all the noodles with sauce. If you don’t, then the ones that don’t get covered with get really crispy in the oven.
8. Now it is ready to put into the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pour the desired amount of grated cheese on top and return to the oven for 15 minutes to allow cheese to melt.

Instructions for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:

In a skillet on medium heat, combine 2-3 boxes of tomato puree, 1-2 teaspoons sugar (sugar takes the bite off the tomato sauce; start with one tsp and add more if necessary), a fair amount of garlic powder, onion powder, basil and oregano. Also add water to dilute the thickness if necessary. Different brands of tomato puree in India have different levels of thickness. You want your sauce not as thick as marinara but not too thin either. Let this simmer on the heat for about five minutes or so. The longer you cook it, the more water will evaporate out, so if your sauce starts out too thin, cook it longer. If you like the consistency as it, don’t leave it cooking for too long. 

Cheese mixture

Meat/sauce mixture

Yumminess

Cajun Chicken Pasta - Pioneer Woman

Fun fact: my first job I started at age 16 was working at a Cajun restaurant. I honestly didn't even know what Cajun food was before I started working there, but I quickly learned, and quickly fell in love with the spicy goodness. Although I'll also confess, I could never bring myself to try one of the boiled crawfish...so maybe I'm not truly Cajun after all.

This pasta.

Oh my wow.

Really, all I need to tell you is that it's a Pioneer Woman recipe, and that should sell you on it immediately. (I love you, Ree!!)

Cajun Chicken Pasta?! What's not to love?!

And the best part is, this recipe is totally totally India safe. I have some Cajun seasoning I brought from America, but you could throw your own spice mix together if you don't. (Just google - homemade Cajun seasoning).

Her recipe is so perfect, I'm not even going to give you my own instructions; I'll just point you directly to her site.

Two notes: Firstly, I did not add tomatoes, bc Kyle and I don't really like chunks of tomatoes in pasta, so instead I just used three colors of bell peppers - red, yellow, and green.

Secondly, this is what I used for the cream:

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't really understand what this stuff is. It's not heavy whipping cream, because it doesn't have enough fat to whip into cream, but it's so, SO thick, that you can literally scoop it with a spoon. So my suggestion is to squeeze out the package into a separate measuring cup and give it a stir to recombine the liquid and the spoonable clumps, before pouring it into your sauce.

Um, and by two notes I actually meant three: Thirdly, I don't have any white cooking wine, so I just replaced it with extra chicken broth, but it took a long time to thicken up, so I maybe would just omit the cooking wine if you don't have it. Not sure if that's due to the chicken broth or the difference in the cream...I just make the food, I don't know the science behind how it cooks :)

This pasta was sooooooo delicious - and the nice part is you can make it as spicy or not spicy as you want. I'm already trying to decide how short of a time is appropriate to wait before making it again...

Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

This reminded me a lot of the Chicken Spaghetti Casserole recipe that I posted, but I liked this one better for two reasons: 1) it's in the crock pot, and I'm in love with the crock pot; 2) the addition of the jalapeños (sub for the can of diced green chiles in the original recipe) adds a nice extra kick of flavor.

This particular time I made it, I used one red and one yellow bell pepper, but you could use any color of pepper. Also, if you can find angel hair pasta, I think it would be even better than regular spaghetti.

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

Serves 6 adults

Original Recipe

1 lb of chicken (thawed or frozen)

1 small onion, diced

2 bell peppers, diced

5-6 jarred jalapeños, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1 recipe of cream of chicken soup substitute

3/4 lb of spaghetti

3 cups of shredded cheese

a few splashes of water or chicken broth

Put chicken, onion, garlic, peppers, jalapeños, cumin, cream of chicken soup, and 1 cup of cheese in crock pot. Add a few splashes of water or chicken broth. Stir to mix everything together. Cook on low 7-8 hours, or on high 4-5 hours. About 20 minutes before serving, cook the spaghetti noodles. Take out the chicken and shred with two forks. Add back in the shredded chicken, along with the spaghetti noodles and the rest of the cheese. Stir well. Cook an additional 20 minutes and then serve.

Chicken Parmesan

I've made spaghetti sauces in the past just using the ground chicken instead of ground beef, but it finally dawned on me that it would be an even tastier idea to make chicken parmesan in lieu of beef spaghetti. Why has it taken me this long to make this?!

I was so excited to make this, I even splurged and paid over $5 for a jar of Ragu sauce from the import section. And it was so worth it (just not too frequently, ha). Like I mentioned, I've made spaghetti sauce a few times here but I've never been very happy with it...if any of you out there have a recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce that tastes good, that does not involve peeling, cooking, and pushing fresh tomatoes through a strainer, please do send it my way. 

In my broccoli cheddar stuffed chicken recipe, I talked about my obsession with Panko bread crumbs, and that's what I used again for the chicken parmesan. If you don't have Panko though, you can just use regular bread crumbs and skip the step of frying the chicken in olive oil and put it directly into the oven.

Chicken Parmesan

3 chicken breasts

1 cup Panko (or regular) breadcrumbs

1-2 tsps Italian seasoning

1-2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese

Pinch of salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

2 TBS olive oil

1. I like to "butterfly" my chicken, or cut them in half across the length, in order to create two thin chicken cutlets. I think this makes them get crispier with more breading (yum), and cutting them in half is way easier and less messy than pounding them out. Who really likes to pound chicken? So step one, cut the chicken breasts in half (or not if you don't want to). 

2. Beat the egg in one shallow dish.

3. In a second shallow dish, mix the bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese, salt & pepper together.

4. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.

5. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg first, then coat well with the bread crumb mixture.

6. Fry the pieces of chicken just until the bread crumbs have browned, about 2ish minutes per side (you're not cooking the chicken all the way here).

7. Transfer the chicken to a plate with a paper towel to soak up grease. Then line a baking pan with foil, spray with cooking spray, and transfer all the chicken to the pan.

8. Bake at 170 degrees C (350 F) for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. If you left the chicken breasts whole, it will probably take more like 25-30 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and serve with spaghetti (or any pasta) and pasta sauce!

Chicken Supreme Pasta Bake

I really enjoyed this meal.

On the original recipe website, the author called it a pasta dish and chicken supreme pizza combined, and I could definitely feel that flavor combo! It was creamy, cheesy, but had that distinct veggie pizza taste to it. Yum!

I made a couple small alterations from the original recipe - left out the mushrooms bc I think they're gross, and chopped fresh tomatoes since canned diced tomatoes are pricey here. Because I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned, I added those in with the peppers and onions to cook a little in the butter. I also stirred all of the cheese into the sauce instead of sprinkling some on top before baking, since the cheese here doesn't melt very well in the oven. It was very tasty, and I'll definitely make it again.

The dish has several veggies in it, but since I'm on a force-us-all-to-eat-more-veggies kick, I served it with some sauteed broccoli and green beans, and it was great!

Chicken Supreme Pasta Bake

Original Recipe

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed (I sprinkled the shredded chicken with a little salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning)

1 pkg of pasta, cooked according to package directions

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

3 TBS butter

3 TBS flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup Dahi (Greek yogurt)

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (the block "pizza cheese" in India)

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat, and sautee the onions, peppers, and garlic for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the tomatoes and sautee for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth (works best to use a whisk at this point) and continue to cook until slightly thickened, about 3-4 more minutes. Then slowly stir in your Dahi and cheeses. Stir and cook until the cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste, and original Italian Seasoning, if you desire.

Add the shredded chicken and cooked pasta and stir until evenly combined. Pour everything into a 9x13 baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes. This will help to thicken the sauce a bit and bake all the flavors together. If you're in a hurry though (or starving), you can skip the baking step and just eat the pasta as soon as everything is stirred together!

Garlic Butter Sauce

Back in the Cooking in America days, one of my go to chicken meals was to cover chicken breasts in Emeril's original BAM seasoning, 

sautee some sliced zucchini and squash with olive oil and garlic, and serve one of these great pasta side dishes:

Yes, I realize those instant pasta side dishes are probably full of preservatives and sodium and other really bad for you things, but I'm not gonna lie. I loved them. And I miss them.

So whipping up this little sauce for some pasta gave me a little hint of that former easy pasta side dish glory.

I brought along some of my Emeril's seasoning, so that's what I coated my chicken with, but you could use any kind of chicken seasoning you like - lemon pepper, Italian seasoning, or even just plain ol' salt and pepper. Slice the chicken into strips for quicker cooking, and cook in a drizzle of olive oil for about 4 minutes per side. I also ammended my previous zucchini/squash side, and sauteed zucchini, broccoli, and green beans in olive oil and garlic. This was the perfect little meal, and a great nod to my old America days.

Here's the garlic butter sauce recipe:

Garlic Butter Sauce

Original Recipe

1/3 cup olive oil

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

3 TBS butter

1 TBS dried parsley (you can use fresh if it's available to you)

2 TBS Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

In a sauce pan or sautee pan, heat the olive oil and melt the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 3ish minutes, until translucent and fragrant, but not burnt. Add the parsley, salt & pepper. Pour over cooked pasta (enough for sides for 4 people, about 1/3 of a package of pasta). Stir in Parmesan cheese. 

Chicken Lazone

I don't really know why this recipe is called Chicken Lazone, but that's what the original recipe dubbed it, so we'll roll with it. I Googled the term and I think it's something related to New Orleans?

Regardless, this is definitely a dish you need to try.

It.was.delicious.

Landon asked for 3rd helpings, which is saying a lot from my picky eater.

This dish is definitely not going to win any awards for health or diet functionality (butter and cream tend to not make those lists) but it definitely wins on the flavor scale. And EASY! The original recipe claimed it could be done in 15 minutes, and I think that's true, except I was also making sauteed zucchini and therefore got distracted a few times. 

So the recipe calls for heavy cream, and here's the stuff I used in India:

I don't really understand what the heck this stuff is. Because it doesn't have a high enough fat content to actually whip into whipped cream, but this stuff is THICK. Thicker than any heavy cream in America. Like, a semi-solid thick. So the recipe called for 2 cups of heavy cream, and I started pouring it in and after about a cup and a half started having second thoughts, so I stopped and didn't add the full two cups. The next time I make it I plan to use a mixture of milk and cream and see how it turns out. {Edit: I tried it, and it was great! A little bit thinner of a sauce but just as tasty.}

Enjoy! Be sure to lick all the sauce off the plate when you're done. :)

Chicken Lazone

Original Recipe

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into strips like chicken tenders

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup butter, divided

1 cup cream

1/2 cup milk

250 grams of your pasta of choice

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Combine salt, chili powder, onion powder, & garlic powder. Sprinkle over both sides of chicken and rub in. 

In a saute pan, melt half of the butter over medium heat. Cook the chicken tenders until done, about 8 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and reserve on a plate.

Stir the cream and milk together in a cup. Add remaining butter to saute pan along with cream/milk. Stir to combine, and then place chicken back in pan. Lower heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes until sauce thickens. Spoon chicken and sauce over pasta.

Serves 3-4 people.

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Ok, I realize the title of the recipe says chicken spaghetti, and the picture has penne pasta, but, hey, it's what I had on hand. It's also easier for the kiddos to eat!

My friend Melodie sent me this recipe from allrecipes.com, and it was one of the very first meals I made in India! When I first started making it I used a packet of the Chicken Delite soup in place of the cream of mushroom soup, because it was before I found the cream of soup from scratch recipe. But I like it better with the from scratch version - it eliminates the "India" flavor in it. 

Mel told me that she made this recipe using chicken keema (ground chicken), so that's what I've always done, but you could easily cook some chicken breasts and cube them up or shred them. If you do that, I'd recommend sauteing the onions and peppers for a little bit before mixing them in to soften them up. I actually used the other half of the cooked chicken keema with peppers and onions I had frozen when I made my Taco Pasta last, which made this super fast to whip up! I just thawed it out and then stirred it right into the cream of chicken soup base. The instructions below are from ground zero though! Double the recipe to make a 9x13 sized casserole.

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Original Recipe

1/2 lb chicken keema

1 onion

1 red pepper (or any color)

1/2 lb/250 g of spaghetti

1.5 cups of cheese

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp Italian Seasoning (optional)

Cream of Chicken Soup Base:

* 2 TBS butter

* 3 TBS flour

* 1/2 cup chicken broth

* 1/2 cup milk

* salt & pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. If using spaghetti, break into pieces.

Meanwhile, brown the chicken keema along with the onion and red pepper, and Italian seasoning. Set aside.

Make the cream of chicken soup base: in a saucepan, dissolve 1 chicken cube in 1 cup of water. Reserve 1/2 cup of broth in a measuring cup, and pour the other 1/2 cup into the chicken. Melt butter in sauce pan. Whisk in flour and stir till smooth. Stir in the reserved 1/2 cup of chicken broth and milk. Whisk until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Drain pasta, then stir in the chicken mixture, the soup mixture, and the cheese. Spread in a baking pan and bake at 170 degrees Celsius (350 F) for 15-20 minutes (really, if you're in a hurry, you could even skip the baking step and just eat it straight from the bowl!). Serves 3-4 people.

This is a small baking dish, not a 9x13

Chicken Scampi with Linguine

My friend Tina made this dish for us one time, and it was so delicious I asked her for the recipe!! Unfortunately I can't credit/link to the original recipe, because it's from a random cookbook Tina got in India, but, thank you original recipe author!!

My phone picture doesn't do justice to how yummy this was. I mean, basically, the sauce is butter, garlic, and lemon juice. Who can argue with that? 

I cut the original recipe in half to make just enough for Kyle, me, Landon & Layla (they don't eat much). However, I still used about the same amount of breadcrumbs as the original recipe because I coated my chicken really well. So you'll just have to eyeball and adjust how much breadcrumbs you want to use. Also, if you can't find breadcrumbs, you can just crush up some Monaco crackers instead.

Chicken Scampi with Linguine

2 chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup bread crumbs, or crushed Monaco crackers

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

1/2 tsp salt + 1/4 tsp pepper

1/3 cup oil

200 grams of linguine or other pasta (approximately...I don't measure the amount of pasta I use)

For the sauce: 

1/4 cup butter (if you cut the block of butter into 4 sticks, use half of a stick)

4 cloves minced garlic

1 TBS lemon juice

salt & pepper to taste

Fresh parsley for garnish, optional

OR

1/2 TBS dried parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions. 

Combine the bread crumbs with cheese, salt & pepper, and Italian seasoning. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces, then dip in the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs. Bread all chicken pieces. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chicken in oil, approx 3 minutes per side or until cooked through and golden brown. Set aside.

You can wipe the oil out of the same skillet to use less dishes, and then add the butter to the skillet. Melt, then add garlic and cook one minute. Stir in lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Also stir in parsley if you are using dried. Drain the pasta, and you can stir an additional 1-2 TBS of butter into the pasta, if desired. Add chicken to the lemon butter sauce, then add that to the pasta and toss to mix. Toss in parsley, if using fresh.

Taco Pasta - with Healthy Options

Tacos and pasta together in the same meal...what's not to like?!

I found a recipe on Pinterest awhile back for Taco Spaghetti that was the inspiration for this meal, but I made several changes, one major one being the type of pasta I used - Landon and Layla are slightly less messy with shaped pasta than with spaghetti noodles, and I actually like them better in this dish as well. 

The original recipe called for 1 lb of meat, but I only use 1/2 lb of chicken keema, because I also like adding black beans. This version of the recipe serves 5-6 people, and technically I guess it's more of a "halved" version - I use half a jar of salsa, half a packet of taco seasoning (they're precious enough to save the extra half for later).

Up your veggie content: Add extra bell peppers, diced tomatoes, diced zucchini, or chopped spinach! I have started adding chopped spinach and zucchini in every time, and we love it. You can't even taste the spinach, and since there's also chopped cilantro in there, it doesn't look weird either, just extra green! 

Taco Pasta

1/2 lb chicken keema (ground chicken) ** (see footnote)

1 big or 2 small onions, chopped **

1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped **

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 cup water

1/2 package of taco seasoning, or equivalent seasonings

4-5 jalapenos from the jar, chopped

1 1/2 cups black beans, cooked and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

Handful of chopped Coriander Leaf (cilantro) 

1 cup of shredded cheese (we like our cheese, so you could use less)

1/2 of a 500 gram package of Rotini, or penne, or similar pasta

Cook the pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, brown the chicken keema along with the onions and red pepper (and zucchini, if using). Add the black beans, water and taco seasoning, and cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until some of the water reduces. Stir in the salsa, jalapenos, and corn (and spinach, if using). Continue cooking on medium heat till everything is heated through.

When pasta is finished cooking, drain and then add to the sauce mixture. Stir well, and then stir in the cheese and chopped coriander leaf. Done!

We love to eat this with tortilla chips - adds extra crunch and a bit of salt! I highly recommend adding the coriander leaf - it adds such a brightness to the dish! I even sprinkle a little extra on mine before serving, because I just love the pop of flavor and smell.
Extra healthy options: Instead of mixing in pasta, serve the chicken/veggie mixture over brown rice, or a bed of lettuce!

Also, for the record, here's the specific type of salsa I like to use:

It's my favorite by far of the 4-5 different types of jarred salsa I've tried out here. I'm even picky enough to prefer the "Wrap Salsa" version over the "Taco Salsa" version by the same brand. It's actually very reasonably priced, as well! If you can find it, I highly recommend it (this is, of course, for India. If you're in America, you have a plethora of great salsa options, and probably not this one). 

** Also, another sidenote tip - when I make this, I actually brown the whole pound of chicken keema with the onion and one whole red pepper, and then I separate half of the mixture into a container to freeze for later use. So easy and helpful!!