Spaghetti de pollo de la abuela or grandma’s chicken spaghetti

This is my grandmother’s chicken spaghetti recipe and has onions, peppers, celery, garlic, tomato paste, chicken broth, olives, mushrooms and spices. This is also one of my comfort food dishes, I lived with my grandma for a few years and this is the dish she makes when I go to visit because she knows it’s one of my favorites, I’ve been a little bit bad about visiting lately so every now and then I have to make this myself.

Ingredients:

Chicken

1 whole chicken, approximately 4 lbs

1 white onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

4 celery stalks, chopped in small pieces

5 garlic cloves, crushed

10-12 cups of water

Spaghetti

2 tbs olive oil

½ white onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

3 celery stalks, diced

1 head of garlic, minced

4 cans of tomato paste

8 cups chicken broth (reserved from cooking chicken)

2 cups chopped olives

2 cups chopped mushrooms

1 bay leaf

Dash of chili powder

1 16 oz pack of spaghetti

Salt and pepper

Chopped scallions and grated cheese (great with smoked cheddar or fontina)

Preparation:

Chicken

1. Place the whole chicken, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and water in a large stockpot and bring to a boil, cook until the chicken is tender.
2. Drain the chicken and reserve 8 cups of chicken broth for later use.
3. Debone the chicken, I got about 4 cups of chicken meat.

Spaghetti

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large stockpot; add the onions, green pepper, celery and garlic. Cook until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Mix in the tomato paste and add the reserved chicken broth, bring to a boil.
3. Add the olives, mushrooms, bay leaf, chili powder and spaghetti.
4. Cook until the spaghetti is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
5. Add the chicken meat and stir well, add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve with grated cheese and chopped scallions.

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