Now this is a dish that is sure to please anyone in the family. It’s healthy yet hearty. Has your vegetables already in it for a one dish meal! However…….you will have a lot of dishes at the end.
Not so pretty huh, but don’t let that scare you because I have a few reasons as to why this dish is worth all of those dishes above! The first reason is because it’s good of course! Healthy but GOOD! I can’t even believe my picky kiddo ate this. Another reason is because I was able to make two casseroles out of this, we ate one that night (it served a good 4 adult portions) and then I froze the other one for a busy weeknight dish! Another reason is because after I made this recipe, I had an Ah-Ha moment if you will. Healthy Cream of Mushroom was born!! YES!!!
So thank you to Melissa who blogs over at Bless This Mess because her recipe inspired me to create this Tetrazinni dish and my new addiction to Healthy Cream of Mushroom, which by the way I will be experimenting with Healthy Cream of Celery and Healthy Cream of Broccoli too because I’ll never buy a canned soup again! So stay tuned for that.
Have I convinced you yet that this dish is worth making? Hey make it on Sunday and store in the fridge for a busy night! Wala dinner is served in about 30 minutes!
OK let’s talk ingredients:
- 1 pound whole wheat thin spaghetti, broken in half
- 1 bunch of fresh broccoli, chopped
- Cooking Spray
- 1-2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups cooked chicken
- 2 tablespoons margarine
- 7 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups low sodium fat-free chicken broth
- 1 cup low-fat milk
- 1/2 cup reduced fat Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup part skim mozzarella cheese
**Tips**
Throw a pound of chicken breasts in the crock pot with a little chicken broth and seasoning and you have your cooked chicken for this dish. Use leftover chicken if you desire or even rotisserie chicken will work!
You can use frozen broccoli if you’d like you would just skip the first part of the directions for the sauteing the broccoli with the mushrooms.
I started with step one first. While I started step two I got all of the ingredients measured out for step three because it happens fast and I like to have everything ready to just poor in.
What to do:
- Saute broccoli, mushrooms and garlic in olive oil for roughly 5-8 minutes. Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees.
- While the veggies are cooking boil water and cook pasta, but drain before it cooks all the way. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan melt the margarine over medium heat. Add the flour and salt and stir to combine. Cook the margarine and flour mixture for roughly 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth to the flour mixture. Stirring constantly, gradually bring the mixture up to a boil, keep whisking away!! Probably another 2 minutes This thickens your sauce. Turn down the heat, and then simmer for an addition 2 minutes until the mixture thickens even more. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the milk and Parmesan until the cheese melts.
Spray 2-two quart baking dishes or one large baking dish with cooking spray. Add sauteed veggies to the drained pasta. Pour most of the sauce into the mixture (leaving about 1/2 cup sauce).
Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and pour the remaining sauce around the edges of the dish(es).
Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 5 minutes.
