Dinner Score!- Chicken Penne Bake

I'm always super excited when I see a recipe on Pinterest that I think my boys will eat.  Although the hubby isn't a fan of pasta, who wouldn't love a recipe that combines pasta, tomato sauce, cheese, and chicken. C'MON :)  So it tickled me pink to see this little beauty yesterday.  Thanks Lindsay!

Yesterday, we had some colder that usual weather for this time of year; after all, it is SPRING, so it was a perfect day to try a hearty meal like the one listed below.  Please overlook the patio that clearly needs to be scrubbed and look at the big FLAKES!  Oh my!

I'll post the recipe here for those of you like me that hate following endless links...

Ingredients

• 1 (16 oz) box regular or whole wheat penne pasta
• 2 chicken breasts
• 6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 (24 oz) jar tomato sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Instructions

 1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a small baking dish, and bake the chicken 25-30 minutes or until it is no longer pink in the center. Cut into bite-sized pieces, and then shred using a fork.

2.  At the same time, cook the pasta according to package directions.

3.  When finished cooking the pasta, add the spinach into the hot water with the pasta and stir just until the spinach wilts. Pour the pasta and spinach into a colander to strain.

4.  Pour the sauce into a large pot, and add the spices. Simmer over low-medium heat. Add in the shredded chicken and stir until well-combined.

5.  In a large bowl, combine the chicken and pasta mixtures with half the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

6.  Pour into a greased 9×13″ baking dish, and sprinkle with the other halves of the cheeses.

7.  Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

I followed the recipe pretty closely but I varied it in these ways...

1. I used fresh basil left over from our super basil plant that has survived the last 13 months.  So worth the $1 Tutu spent on it at the dollar aisle at Target!

2. I used a tri color penne.  Not that it should make that much difference in taste (I had to ask Sarah to make sure).

3.  Instead of Parmessan cheese I substituted an Italian shredded cheese blend from Aldis (Side note- I love cheese from Aldi's AMAZING and the price rocks also).

4.  I used our homemade/ canned spaghetti sauce from the garden instead of tomato sauce. 

And that's it!  I hope you enjoyed it as much we did.  I also made some cheesy toast to go along with our yummy pasta.