Cheesy Ditalini with Chicken and Spinach

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 25 min
  • Active: 25 min
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Ingredients

Kosher salt

1 1/2 cups ditalini

1 shallot, minced

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup milk

Freshly ground pepper

2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 cup shredded gruyère cheese

Toasted breadcrumbs, for topping

Directions

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs, then drain.
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and thyme and cook until softened. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking, for 2 minutes, then whisk in the broth and milk. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, whisking, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the chicken, spinach and pasta and cook to heat through. Stir in the gruyère and season with salt and pepper. Divide among 4 bowls and top with toasted breadcrumbs. 

Let's Get Cooking!

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Anonymous

This was a great base for a recipe overall, but I found it needed a LOT more seasoning. Tasted very bland at first. I ended up adding more milk, 4-6 oz shredded mozzarella, and at least 1/2 to 1 tsp each of garlic powder, and onion powder, and salt. Plus 1 T black pepper. And 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes to help cut through the dairy a little. Didn’t make it spicy, just cut through the heaviness. <br /><br />I also used chicken breast: I cooked it in the oven and then shredded it because I already had chicken and didn’t want to buy more. That worked out just fine. It’s possible the recipe wouldn’t have needed as much more seasoning if I’d used a rotisserie chicken, but in my experience, they’re not super heavily seasoned anyway.

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