Chicken, Spinach & Almond Pasta Bake

Adapted from http://gimmesomeoven.com




Serves 8

This is the kind of recipe that rocks my world: the kind you can make ahead of time and refrigerate. In an era of gourmet everything, I enjoy the basics that a casserole offers. This, and it makes for great leftovers which keep us fed through the week. 

Ingredients


500 g whole-wheat penne
1 t olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups of fresh spinach, chopped
juice and zest of half a lemon
500 g of chicken, seasoned, cooked and cut into bite size pieces
1 cup of shredded mozzarella, or your favorite blend of cheeses
1/4 cup of freshly-grated parmesan
1 cup of slivered and toasted almonds
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
salt and ground pepper 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9X13" cooking dish with cooking spray.  

Boil the pasta in salted water per package instructions, until it is just al dente.  Drain pasta, toss with the olive oil.  

In the meantime, heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Saute the onions with a couple pinches of salt for a few minutes. Stir in garlic for one minute, then add the wine and stir to deglaze pan.  Simmer for another 5 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half.

Stir in spinach. Cook for just about 20 seconds, until the spinach collapses a bit. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest and juice. Add to pasta and stir mixing extremely well.

Add half of the pasta to the bottom of the baking pan, then sprinkle with some of the cheese and chicken pieces. Repeat these layers a second time. Finish with a thin layer of parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and melty. Serve sprinkled with the toasted almonds and chopped parsley.