easy italiano: italian baked chicken and pasta casserole

last night, we enjoyed this easy pasta bake recipe from giada de laurentiis.  i tweaked it a little bit to add more nutritional value, using whole wheat pasta and adding frozen spinach.  next time, i think i will add more chicken and maybe fresh basil to give it more flavor. overall, it was quite tasty and very filling.

ingredients:
2.5 cups whole wheat rotini
2 chicken breasts, diced
1/2 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup jarred pasta sauce
1 cup thawed frozen spinach
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter
s&p
evoo

directions:

preheat the oven to 400 degrees. cook pasta according to package. when finished, place in mixing bowl. meanwhile, put the evoo in a medium saute pan over medium heat. add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. add chicken mixture to pasta in mixing bowl. add the canned tomatoes, spinach, jarred pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan, parsley, and s&p. stir to combine. place the mixture in greased small baking dish.  sprinkle top with breadcrumbs and remaining parmesan cheese. dot the top with small bits of butter and bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. bon appetito!

a close up view...look at all the cheese!