Recipe - Creamy Chicken-Noodle Casserole With Spinach And Mushrooms

1 pound Skinless boneless chicken
breast halves
1 One half cup Water; approximate
2 lg Garlic cloves; minced
1 Bay leaf

WHITE SAUCE
1/3 cup Allpurpose flour
2 tablespoon Cornstarch
2 cup 1% lowfat milk
1 tablespoon Fresh tarragon OR 1tsp
dried tarragon
1 teaspoon Salt; or less
1/8 teaspoon Ground nutmeg; or to taste
One fourth cup Dry white wine
10 ounce Frozen spinach; thawed and
squeezed dry

ADD
8 ounce Spinach pasta; fresh
8 ounce Mushrooms; cut or sliced up

TOPPING
1 One half teaspoon Olive oil OR olive oil spray
Three fourths cup Fresh breadcrumbs; coarsely
ground from French bread
One fourth cup Parmesan cheese; freshly
grated

COOK CHICKEN: Combine chicken, 1 cup water, garlic and bay leaf in large
saucepan. Cover and simmer just until chicken is cooked through, turning
once, about 15 min. Transfer chicken to plate; cool. Shred chicken. Pour
cooking liquid into measuring ing cup, adding more water to measure 1 cup
if necessary. Reserve cooking liquid.

WHITE SAUCE: Whisk flour and cornstarch in heavy large saucepan. Add 1 cup
milk; whisk until smooth. Stir in 1 cup milk, tarragon, salt, nutmeg and
reserved 1 cup chicken cooking liquid. Stir over medium heat until mixture
thickens and boils, about 5 minutes. Add wine; stir until mixture is very
thick about 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir in shredded chicken
and spinach.

(Can be made 1 day ahead to this point. Cover and chill. Rewarm over
mediumlow heat, stirring frequently before continuing.)

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray an 11x7x2 inch glass baking dish.

PASTA: Cook fettuccine it large pot of boiling salted water unto just
tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Return to pot. Add mushrooms and
chicken mixture ture; toss. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to
prepared baking dish.

CRUMB TOPPING: Heat oil in small nonstick skillet over mediumhigh heat.
Add breadcrumbs; stir 1 minute. Sprinkle over casserole. Bake until
casserole bubbles and breadcrumb are golden, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10
minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

PER SERVING: calories, 335; total fat, 6 g or 16%cff; saturated fat, 2g;
cholesterol, 82 mg.

PAT'S VARIATION: Lowfat milk is the base for the cream sauce; the dish
resembles fettucine alfredo. We had leftover chicken from another meal that
totaled about 2 ounces per serving. White sauce would not thicken without
some oil so 1 teaspoon whipped butter was added to the liquids. We used a
combination of flour ("Dry" roux) and cornstarch and a pinch of salt.
Chardonay, fresh tarragon and a more generous helping of nutmeg completed
the sauce. We used a combination of short curly "egg" noodles and linguini.
The assembly was as stated above with one exception. Instead of spinach, we
used 2 collard leaves per serving: trimmed, stripped and julienned; sauted
briefly (to a bright green) in nonstick pan sprayed with butter flavored
corn oil. The crumbs, too were sauted in spray instead of oil. Baked at
400F for about 22 minutes. Served with freshly grated Parmesan. Onequarter
acorn squash and cranberry conserve completed the meal. A little dry but
very tasty, especially with the extra pinches of nutmeg.
phannema@wizard.ucr.edu

*"The Lighter Side of Casseroles," article by Jim Fobel for Bon Appetit
(1998:Feb p.66). Quintessential home cooking, casseroles can be heavy on
flavor but light on fat and calories. Also available: Lighter Than Mom's
TunaNoodle Casserole and the MixedMushroom Lasagna with Parmesan Sauce,
both updated versions of timehonored dishes.

Recipe by: Jim Fobel (1998Feb) Bon Appetit*

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by KitPATh phannema@wizard.ucr.edu on Feb 11,
1998