Recipe Review: Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo Stuffed Shells

     I love pasta. Seriously, love it. Eat way too much of it. Once I gave up pasta for Lent but messed up and ate it because I forgot that Macaroni & Cheese was pasta. True story. Regardless, when this recipe happened across my Pinterest, I took immediate interest.

Original Recipe

    Does that not look amazing? Can't you just smell it through the screen? I've been meaning to try this out for a while now, but I'm lazy so it hasn't happened. Until last night.

     I'm having a root canal later today, so I decided I wanted my last meal to be something mouthwateringly delicious. I made a good choice. The original recipe followed step by step from above was quite yummy, but I've made a few minute changes to give it that little something extra.

1.) The Chicken: I'm pretty notorious for just winging amounts of meats. When I see two cups I think, "Okay, four tenderloins or two large breasts. That should about do it." So that's what I did. I chopped it up (while halfway frozen) into bite sized pieces, then popped it in some boiling water with two tablespoons of butter. As you can imagine, it was quite hot when done. Solution to shredding painfully hot chicken? Food processor. Just dump it all in there and pulverize it. You get a very finely chopped product that really lends itself well to this recipe.

2.) The Broccoli: Pretty much the same as above. I bought the florettes in one of those steamer bags, prepared it according to the instructions, then tossed it in the food processor. The resulting fine puree really makes stuffing the shells easy, and I imagine it would help get little ones to eat the broccoli, too. This trick works with my husband. :)

3.) The Mixture: I like flavor. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am, in your face flavor. I was worried I wouldn't get that with this recipe because it does not call for any seasoning beyond "salt & pepper to taste". I recommend adding one (1) teaspoon of minced garlic, salt and pepper (I always count to seven while shaking the container, but you do you), and then maaaaybe a little Italian seasoning. Just a pinch!

4.) Stuffing the Shells: Firstly, make sure your pot is big enough to support your jumbo shells. Mine almost was not. Once they're ready (they don't need to be as "well done" as regular pasta would be, because you're going to bake them), strain them and let them cool until you can handle them without burning your fingers. Using your hands, line them up in your pan (which should have a goodly helping of spaghetti sauce on the bottom), and hold them open with your fingers while stuffing them full of Alfredo-y goodness. It's a little messy, but definitely easier than trying to do it all with piping hot noodles and a spoon.

5.) My Main Change: I recommend adding a little spaghetti/marinara/red sauce to the top of the shells as well. Don't completely cover it so that they are swimming, but I'd say put about a teaspoon over each shell. The Alfredo and marinara pair exceedingly well, and the added red sauce keeps the shells from feeling like "naked" pasta.

One "batch" made enough for two meals, so we've got a ready-to-go pan in the freezer for some day later when I'm too lazy to do anything other than pop a frozen meal in the oven. My husband LOVED this. We did not have any left overs, and he was quite happy when I told him I was full and he could finish off what he wanted. This dish is deceptively easy, but as Jake so eloquently stated "restaurant quality" in taste. Trot it out when you're having company over and want to show off what a Domestic Goddess you really are.

Happy Eating! <3