Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake

One of my long-term goals is to develop more original recipes and submit them to cooking contests.  Ultimately I’d like to actually win a prize of some sort (lifetime supply of chocolate, a fancy oven, maybe the Pillsbury Million Dollars….any of those would be just dandy), but for now I’m just going to work on actually entering a cooking contest, probably a small local one at first.  I’m starting to get comfortable throwing ingredients together for a dinner, but I’m not quite there yet with my baking.  I can easily change things to add pecans or take out the blueberries and substitute cranberries, but I’m not very good at saying “hmmm, for these muffins, I’ll use 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of sugar…”  I guess I need to learn a little more about the science behind baking and do LOTS more hands-on experimenting in the kitchen.

For now, I enjoy reading about other contest winners and trying out their recipes.  This is one such recipe from Carol McLaughlin of Plattsmouth, NE.  She won $400 from Better Homes and Gardens with this recipe for Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake, and it caught my eye with the artichokes, pasta, spinach, cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.  We definitely enjoyed this recipe, though I would make a few changes next time.  The Picky Apple isn’t a fan of artichokes, so I’d probably cut back on the artichokes next time.  I’d also throw in more sun-dried tomatoes so they don’t get overpowered by all the other flavors.

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake

Better Homes and Gardens, $400 Prize Winner

Carol McLaughlin, Plattsmouth, NE

Ingredients:

• 8 oz dried bow tie pasta
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (8 oz)
• 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
• 1/2 cup oil-packed dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.  In medium skillet cook onion in 1 tbsp butter over medium heat about 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat; set aside.

In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk, seasoning. 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Stir in chicken, Monterey Jack cheese, artichokes, spinach, tomatoes, half of the Parmesan, cooked pasta, and onion.  Transfer to 3-quart rectangular baking dish.

Bake, covered, 20 minutes.  In small bowl combine remaining Parmesan, bread crumbs, paprika, and melted butter.  Sprinkle mixture over pasta.  Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more or until golden.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.