Manicotti with Creamed Chicken and Almonds is stuffed with a mixture of diced chicken, spinach and ricotta cheese and topped with a creamy Gruyere cheese sauce and sliced almonds. So rich and delicious and makes a really impressive restaurant quality meal.
Course Dinner, Main Dish
Cuisine Italian
Keyword chicken, pasta
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 6
Ingredients
2tablespoonsbutter
1/2cupchopped onion
2garlic cloves,minced
3tablespoonsall-purpose flour
1 1/2cupschicken broth
3/4cupheavy cream,divided
1/2cupshredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
1/2teaspooncrushed red pepper flakes
3cupsdiced cooked chicken
1(10-ounce) packagefrozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed in paper towels to get rid of excess water
1cupricotta cheese
1/2cupfreshly grated Parmesan cheese
1largeegg,lightly beaten
1boxmanicotti shells,cooked according to package directions.
3tablespoonssliced almonds
Instructions
Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.
Sprinkle flour over onion mixture. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
Gradually whisk in the chicken broth. When thickened, whisk in 1/2 cup of heavy cream.Simmer for 5 minutes
Remove from heat and stir in Gruyere cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add crushed red pepper flakes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine chicken, spinach, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and egg. Stir to mix well. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.Add in 1/2 cup of the sauce. Stir.
Stuff manicotti shells with the chicken mixture. Arrange manicotti in baking dish.
Mix the remaning 1/4 cup of heavy cream into the gruyere sauce and pour over the manicotti.
Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese and the almonds. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5 minutes.
Notes
For the chicken, I like to use a rotisserie chicken or cook 2 to 3 chicken breasts in my crock pot.