By The end of July. Twenty-fourth Saturday visit. Cody is on day two hundred and eight of his sentence. The chapbook is at the printer in Tulsa now and is going to be ready August twenty-fifth. The reading is at the unit on Saturday August twenty-sixth at one in the afternoon, and family is invited. Mama has put the date on the kitchen calendar in red marker. I have put it in the front of the green notebook in pen. Cody’s pieces are going to be read by him, in front of an audience of family and unit staff and maybe a few of the volunteers from the Tulsa Library, in a room I have not seen yet but that I will see in four weeks.
And the recipe Sunday was baked garlic and Fontina chicken spaghetti, which is the magazine version of the chicken spaghetti casserole I have been making for over a year now. The Grandma Carol version uses Velveeta and cream of mushroom soup — it is the recipe I learned from Mama in May. The magazine version uses Fontina cheese and a homemade cream sauce — it is the recipe I had been waiting to try, and Sunday I tried it.
The trigger was the Aldi sale on Fontina. Fontina at Walmart is $5.99 for a small wedge. At Aldi this week it was $3.99. I bought two wedges. Fontina is, for those of you who have not used it, an Italian cheese that melts more silkily than cheddar and has a slightly nutty flavor between cheddar and parmesan. The cheese is the upgrade that turns Grandma Carol’s comfort recipe into a fancier version of the same recipe.
The technique is the same I have been using for cheese sauces all year — the roux-bechamel-mornay sequence — but with two changes. One: cook the spaghetti in chicken broth instead of water (the Grandma Carol trick). Two: use Fontina and parmesan as the cheese, instead of Velveeta. The combination produces a sauce that is richer and more grown-up than the Velveeta version, without losing the comfort that makes the original work.
The math: a pound of spaghetti $0.89, four chicken thighs from the markdown rack $2.79, six cloves of garlic free, three tablespoons of butter, three tablespoons of flour, two cups of half-and-half $1.49 (a small carton; the leftover went into Tuesday’s coffee), one cup of chicken broth from bouillon $0.10, six ounces of Fontina shredded $3.99, a quarter cup of parmesan $0.50 worth, panko breadcrumbs $0.30 worth. Total: about $9.40 for a 9-by-13 pan that fed Mama and me Sunday and Monday and Tuesday.
The technique is the layered build. Cook the chicken thighs in salted water until done, save the broth, shred the meat. Cook the spaghetti to three minutes shy of done in the saved broth. While the spaghetti cooks, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low, whisk in flour, cook a minute. Whisk in the half-and-half and the chicken broth slowly. Simmer until thickened. Off the heat, stir in the Fontina and parmesan until melted. Add minced garlic that has been sauteed briefly in butter. Combine the spaghetti, the shredded chicken, and the cheese sauce in a 9-by-13 pan. Top with panko and a final sprinkle of parmesan. Bake at 375 for thirty minutes covered, fifteen uncovered for the brown top.
Mama said, when she ate this Sunday night, baby, this is the magazine version of my mama’s recipe. I said, both versions are right, Mama. She said, I know they are. The Grandma Carol version is for Sundays in winter. The Fontina version is for late summer when the cheese has gone on sale.
The recipe is below. The trick I want you to keep is the spaghetti cooked in chicken broth and the panko-parmesan top. Do not skip either. Make this on a Sunday for three weeknight dinners.
Baked Garlic and Fontina Chicken Spaghetti
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 12 oz spaghetti
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups shredded fontina cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti until just shy of al dente, about 1 minute less than the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Sauté the garlic and chicken. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add chicken pieces, season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, and cook 5–6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just cooked through.
- Build the sauce. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in the drained diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and heavy cream. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, letting the sauce reduce slightly and come together.
- Combine with pasta. Add the cooked spaghetti to the skillet and toss to coat everything evenly in the sauce. Stir in 1 cup of the fontina cheese until it begins to melt.
- Transfer and top. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of fontina and the Parmesan evenly over the top.
- Bake. Bake uncovered for 20–25 minutes, until the cheese is melted, golden, and bubbling at the edges.
- Rest and serve. Let the dish sit for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 20g | Carbs: 45g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 490mg