Chicken Spaghetti from Scratch

Like many southern dishes, I hadn't ever had chicken spaghetti until I moved way down south to Mississippi. I first tried it at a roadside hole-in-the wall (where all the best food can be found) and it immediately had my attention. It was creamy, cheesy and flavorful so I decided that I needed to look into this creation. As with so many traditional southern dishes as I investigated I learned that the recipe had strayed far from the ways that grandma would have made it and that always makes me sad. I am all for shortcuts whenever possible but prefer to make recipes as naturally as possible and avoid canned foods and preservative. In my opinion, most recipes can be made from scratch just as easily as popping open cans and although it may take a little more time, it usually is a minimal amount. Cooking from scratch results in a meal that is healthier for you and one that tastes way better! Grandma new what she was doing! So when creating my own version of chicken spaghetti over 10 years ago, I went way back to the grandmothers to do my research, maybe even great grandmothers! When you find handwritten, stained recipes, you know you've hit gold! I personally make this chicken spaghetti with a homemade chicken stock because I use the stock in my sauce and the chicken from the stock in my chicken spaghetti, however you can use leftover, rotisserie, or any kind of cooked chicken and a good quality store bought stock if you prefer.

Ingredients:

2-4 cups of cooked chicken

16 ounces of cooked pasta

1 large onion, diced

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large carrot finely shredded

4 stalks of celery, diced

1 jalapeño seeded and minced

1 large bell pepper, any color, diced or a 4 ounce jar of pimentos

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

2 cups of good quality chicken broth

1 cup cream

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup freshly grated parmesan (not the green can) get a block of fresh parmesan, chop it, and put it in your blender!

2-3 cups of freshly shredded cheddar or cheese of your choice

1 tablespoon dried parsley or a handful or chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Homemade stock Ingredients:

Whole bone-in chicken or at least 5 pounds of bone-in chicken pieces

2 large onions quartered, do not peel

4 large carrots roughly chopped

1 head of garlic, peel on roughly chopped

5 celery stalks including leaves, roughly chopped

1 large jalapeño left whole

Fresh bunch of parsley left whole or dried equivalent

Fresh bunch of dill or 1 tablespoon dried dill

1 tablespoon rosemary

Pinch of red pepper flakes

1-2 bay leaves

Salt and pepper

Homemade Stock instructions:

Don't worry about finely chopping everything and leave all the peels and leaves on your veggies because so much flavor and nutrients come from the skins and peels. You will be straining it all out later. Throw all your ingrdients in a large stock pot and then fill the pot with water until the water is about an inch above your chicken. Bring it to a boil over a high heat. Once boiling, cover and turn tempature to a medium-low and let simmer for several hours. My preferance is at least 6 hours. Carefully strain out the liquid and seperate out your chicken. discard the remaining strained ingredients. Now you have your stock and chicken for this meal, as well as stock to save for other recipes because you won't be using all of it.

Chicken spaghetti instructions:

• Sauté veggies in a little bit of olive oil until softened, 3-5 minutes

• Add butter, stirring it in until melted

• Add flour, stir until dissolved for about 1 minute

• Add stock stirring well to incorporate

• Add Cream and stir well to incorporate

• Add seasonings

• Add Cream cheese and 1 cup cheddar

• Turn temperature to low

• Stir occasionally until cheeses are melted and incorporated

• Add parmesan stir until incorporated

• Turn off heat

• Add pasta, chicken and remaining cheeses

• Gently toss until combined and pasta is coated in sauce

• Enjoy!

Notes:

Why not pre-shreded cheeses?

I'm not suggesting you shred your own cheese to be bougie or difficult, it genuinely makes a difference in not only flavor, but melting. This is because pre-shredded cheeses are coated in starches and natamycin to keep them from clumping together. Another common ingredient in these pre-shredded cheeses is cellulose which is wood/plant pulp. As a matter of fact up to 9 percent of that pre-shredded cheese is cellulose. Not only is block cheese better for you, but you get more for your money because it isn't full of preservatives and fillers. So shred your own cheese!! Also, feel free to substitute your favorite cheese for the cheddar.

How much chicken and cheese:

Put as much or as little chicken and cheese in at the end as you would like! If you want it more cheesy, add extra, if you want it meaty add more chicken. I use about two cups of chicken in mine but that's completely customizable which is why I didn't give an exact amount in the ingredients.

Thinning the sauce:

If your sauce gets too thick feel free to add a little more broth, cream or even milk as needed to thin it out how you prefer it. I like it thick and creamy, but you can adjust it to fit your preference.