Chicken and Spaghetti

Lorraine of AZ's Note:

My SIL served this to my DH while he was in Texas and when he got back to Arizona he telephoned her for the recipe. This really is a great recipe and apparently quite southern in its roots. This recipe makes two good-sized casseroles. Bake one and keep the other handy in the freezer (see directions at the end of recipe). The original recipe came from Southern Living magazine, but I have tweeked it a bit. Note that instead of the 5-pound chicken, you may use 2 smaller chickens. You may even use rotisserie chickens with boxed low-sodium, low-fat broth.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 16

• 1 (5 lb) chicken , poached, meat cut into bite-sized pieces and broth reserved
• 16 -24 ounces spaghetti
• 1 green pepper , chopped
• 2 large onions , chopped
• 4 -8 celery ribs , diced
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 2 (4 ounce) cans mushroom pieces (see Note)
• 1 (10 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (7 ½ ounce) can black olives , sliced (may also use stuffed olives)
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped pimiento (see Note)
• garlic salt , to taste
• 1 lb longhorn cheese , grated (known as "rat cheese" in the south)

Directions:

1. Drain poached chicken, reserving broth. Debone chicken and tear or cut into bite-sized pieces; reserve.
2. Return broth to large pot, holding back a cup or so, and cook spaghetti in reserved poaching liquid following package directions; drain and reserve.
3. Saute together the green pepper, onions, celery, and garlic until onions are wilted and golden.
4. Combine sauteed mixture with drained canned mushroom pieces, soup, olives, pimientos, spaghetti, garlic salt and chicken meat.
5. Spoon mixture into two buttered 13- x 9-inch casseroles. You may want to moisten casseroles with a little of the held-back chicken broth. Top with grated cheese.
6. Bake in preheated 350 degree F. oven 30 minutes or until bubbly.
7. Note: Instead of using canned mushrooms, I prefer to buy an 8-ounce package of sliced mushrooms and saute them in a separate pan. I also prefer to use roasted red peppers instead of the pimientos. I buy the desired amount (usually 2 or 3) from the olive bar in the grocery store, and chop them up.
8. To freeze one casserole: Line baking dish with aluminum foil which is twice as long as dish is wide. Butter the foil instead of the dish. Assemble casserole in dish and freeze. When frozen remove from dish, foil and all. Wrap casserole in foil and return to freezer. This frees the baking dish for another use. When ready to bake, remove foil and return casserole to baking dish. Thaw casserole before baking. If casserole is straight from the refrigerator, you'll have to allow at least 15 minutes extra baking time. Be sure to heat until casserole bubbly.