I especially enjoy a great recipe from a friend. And it's even more wonderful when its a recipe that you've had and used for long time. A recipe that results in tasty, not just trendy, food
Well...last weekend i pulled out one if those recipes.
The first time I ate this I was at the home of a family, the Hovis', with whom I attended church when I moved to Texas and began teaching in the early/mid 90s. It was probably one of the nights I was tutoring one of the two older girls in math. I also know that I cooked it once for the girls- Jaclyn, Reagan, & Laura Beth (then probably ages 16, 14 and 10) when I spent a few days with them as "nanny" so the parents could go out of town for a few days.
Some other fun facts about this family is that I have had the privilege of watching all 3 girls grow up to be fabulous wives and mothers! Check out Jaclyn's designs/decorator business - The Turquoise Giraffe and her family life at The Mommy Revelation
This recipe is memorable not only because it was given to me by Laura Hovis, but also because its was the main course of the first meal I ever cooked for Stan's parents when we were dating.
[Note: I would liked to have know ahead of time, that my now in-law's version of spicy and mine are quite different. So...if your making this for someone who thinks green chiles are spicy, adjust accordingly. Good thing I redeemed myself with by having sour cream available and a good dessert]
OK - enough reminiscing, here's the recipe!
Chicken Spaghetti (from Laura Hovis) - serves 6 (3/4 cup servings)
12 oz pasta; I like farfalle(bowtie)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup onions, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced OR 1 tbsp minced garlic
8 oz fresh mushroom, sliced (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles (Ro-tel)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can stewed tomatoes (I substituted a 5.5 oz can of V8 when I didn't have a can of stewed tomatoes)
1 tbsp oregano, dried
8 oz chopped chicken, cooked (can substitute 2 large cans canned chuck chicken)
salt
pepper
- In a large stock pot, prepare pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside
- In a mixing bowl, combine diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, cream of mushroom soup and oregano
- Over medium head, in the large stock pot, saute mushrooms, onions and minced garlic in butter until tender; season with salt and pepper to taste
- Add chopped chicken to saute. Let reheat 2-3 minutes
- Add tomato and cream of mushroom soup mixture, creating sauce; bring to a simmer
- Add pasta; fold into sauce to evenly coat noodle
