I was about to serve the usual quick meal of Costco rotisserie chicken, roasted vegetables, and roasted potatoes when my husband complained that he just couldn’t eat that AGAIN. I started looking for rotisserie chicken recipes, and this one seemed great. I substituted a 16 oz bag of frozen chopped kale for the fresh kale, and added red pepper flakes. The lemon adds a little unexpected flavor.
- Prep Time 25 minutes
- Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield Serves 8
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- red pepper flakes, to taste
- 3/4 pound large pasta shells (whole wheat okay)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced medium
- 3-10 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 bunches kale (1 1/2 pounds), tough stems and ribs removed, leaves coarsely chopped
- 2 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken (from 1/2 rotisserie chicken)
- 1 15 oz container part-skim ricotta
- finely grated lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup Parmesan, grated (2 1/4 ounces)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain; return to pot. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is beginning to soften, 4 minutes. Add kale, cover, and cook until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to pot with pasta.
- Stir in chicken, ricotta, lemon zest, and 1/2 cup Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; top with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Bake until top is golden, 30 minutes.
