Chicken spaghetti

Editor’s note: For nearly every cook, there is a chicken spaghetti recipe. This recipe has evolved over the years as we have experimented. The original recipe came from Lorene Murray, my mother-in-law, who always professed to hating cooking but who was always an excellent cook. No one remembers where the recipe originated. When there was a death in the church, she was in line with her chicken spaghetti because of the quantity it makes.

Utensils needed: 1 large stock pot to cook chicken and pasta; one very large saute´ pan or stock pot (as large as you have) to mix all ingredients.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tbsps. Olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 medium red or orange bell pepper
  • 1 (14-ounce) can chicken broth
  • 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of celery soup
  • 2 (4.25-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
  • 2 large jars pimentos
  • 1 small carton fresh Portabella mushrooms, sliced in large chunks
  • 1 tsp Gumbo Filet´
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning (optional)
  • 1⁄2 cup sour cream
  • salt to taste
  • 2-3 lbs. chopped cooked chicken
  • 1 lb. shredded Cheddar cheese, reserve half of cheddar for topping dish at the end of baking
  • 1 lb. American cheese
  • 1 medium block Velveeta cheese
    1 16-ounce pasta of choice

Directions

  • Cook chicken until done in chicken stock. We use concentrated chicken stock and water. Reserve the chicken stock. You can use a hen, a fryer or packaged chicken of your choice; we prefer chicken breasts. Pull, chop and reserve.
  • Saute´ in butter onion, chopped celery, mushrooms, bell pepper and garlic until tender. Add pimentos and black olives. Stir in chicken broth, three cans of soup, sour cream, and combine. Add Gumbo File´ and poultry seasoning (optional).
  • Cube American and Velveeta cheese; grate the Cheddar cheese. Put cheese into mixture and combine. Stir until melted.
  • In reserved chicken stock, cook pasta (we use linguine, but any pasta will suffice). When al dente, drain and stir into mixture.
  • When combined, divide equally between two 10×15 in. casserole pans that you have sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, the last five minutes uncovered. When uncovering, spread remaining cheddar equally on two casseroles.