Baked Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

School started. Alexander walked into his senior year of high school the way he walks into everything — quietly, purposefully, with a plan and a backup plan and a spreadsheet tracking both. He is seventeen and already more organized than most adults I know, including me, including his father, especially his father. I watched him get into his car — his car, the used Honda I bought him with real estate commissions — and drive to school and I stood in the driveway like every movie mother who has ever watched a child leave, except I was not in a movie, I was in Tampa, in August, in ninety-two degree heat, holding a coffee mug and trying not to cry.

Sophia started high school. Ninth grade. She got out of the car at the drop-off and did not look back, which is exactly right, which is exactly what fourteen-year-olds are supposed to do, and which still felt like a small knife in a soft place. She had her backpack too full and her head held high and her grandmother's stubborn jaw set against whatever the world was about to throw at her. My girl. Nikos's granddaughter. She does not know yet how much of him she carries, but I can see it — the pride, the determination, the refusal to be small.

I sold a house in Carrollwood this week to a family from New Jersey. They loved the pool. They loved the lanai. They were less sure about the palmetto bugs, which I described as outdoor roaches with ambition, a description that did not make the sale sheet but probably should have. Honesty in real estate is my brand. Honesty and spanakopita.

Mama called to ask about the children's first day of school, which is code for Mama called because she wanted to talk and the children are her favorite excuse. She asked what Sophia was wearing. She asked what Alexander had for breakfast. She asked if I packed lunch or if they were buying school lunch, and when I said they were buying, she made a sound that in Greek culture communicates approximately fifteen layers of disapproval without using a single word.

I made pastitsio tonight — the real thing, Mama's Kalymnos recipe with the extra cinnamon and the thick bechamel. It is a back-to-school tradition in our house, the way other families might order pizza or make spaghetti. In the Papadopoulos household, we mark transitions with baked pasta and meat sauce and a bechamel that takes forty-five minutes to make and three seconds to eat. Alexander had two helpings. Sophia had one and a half. The kitchen smelled like cinnamon and home. The first day of school was over. The first of many things was over. The moussaka of life continues, layer by layer, and I keep building it because that is what Greek mothers do.

I make pastitsio for the big transitions — it’s Mama’s recipe and it belongs to our family’s specific history — but the spirit behind it, that baked-pasta-as-love-letter idea, translates beautifully into this Baked Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, which is what I make when the week calls for comfort and I don’t have forty-five minutes to give to a bechamel. If Alexander is getting two helpings of anything, it will be something bubbling and cheesy and warm from the oven. This is that dish: the one you pull out when the first days are behind you and everybody just needs to sit down and eat something that feels like home.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

12 oz spaghetti, broken in half
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (rotisserie works perfectly)
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles (such as Rotel), undrained
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
Cook the pasta. Boil the spaghetti in well-salted water according to package directions until just al dente — it will continue cooking in the oven. Drain and set aside.
Saute the vegetables. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and bell pepper and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until softened. Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
Build the sauce. To the skillet, add the cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, diced tomatoes with chiles, chicken broth, smoked paprika, black pepper, and garlic powder. Stir everything together over medium-low heat until smooth and warmed through, about 3 minutes.
Combine. In a very large bowl, toss the cooked spaghetti with the shredded chicken, the sauce mixture, 1 cup of the cheddar cheese, and all of the Monterey Jack. Season with salt to taste and stir until evenly combined.
Assemble and top. Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of cheddar cheese over the top in an even layer.
Bake. Bake uncovered at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges are bubbling and the cheese on top is golden and melted.
Rest and serve. Let the casserole rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley and bring the whole pan to the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Baked Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti — The Comfort Pasta That Gets Us Through Every Big Day