Chicken Florentine Bowtie Pasta

I have tried so many yummy new recipes recently! Last week, I made Chicken Florentine Bowtie Pasta. You can find the pin here, a recipe taken from the Picky Palate's blog. Hubby was a big fan of this one and I really liked it too. It was pretty simple to throw together and yielded another casserole that left us both with a couple days worth of leftovers. Yay for budget-friendly meals too! :) Not super healthy with all of the creme and cheese, but I did feel a little better knowing we were eating a good helping of spinach too. ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped white onion (I used the entire onion, not sure how much that yielded)
• 1 clove minced garlic (I used 3 cloves)
• 4 cups baby spinach leaves
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast (I used two 8-oz pkgs of pre-cooked chicken strips that I diced)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups Philadelphia cooking creme (I used the Savory Garlic flavor)
• 1 pound bowtie pasta (the box I had was slightly less than 1 pound)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used the entire 2 cups in the bag)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place oil in Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Stir in spinach leaves, cook, stirring until wilted about 2 minutes. 

Add chicken, salt, and pepper, and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. 

Add cooking creme, stirring to combine. 

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and run under cold water to stop cooking. Add pasta to chicken mixture stirring to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish and top with cheese. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until cheese is melted. I ended up cooking it for 35 minutes to get the cheese to brown nicely.

I served this with a loaf of homemade French bread, fresh out of the bread machine. Yum!!