Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

If there are two kinds of food just about everyone loves, they would have to be buffalo chicken wings and stuffed shells.  I think this may even be a case where the final outcome is greater than the sum of its parts. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 15 jumbo pasta shells
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 2 Tablespoons chopped chives
• 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
• ¼  teaspoon each of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
• 5 Tablespoons butter
• 1 bottle of Cholula (5 fl. oz) (or whatever hot sauce you like)
• ¼  teaspoon each of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder (yes, again)
• ¾ cup grated cheese

Before starting anything else, go ahead put a large pan of water on the hot burner so it can come to a boil.  Add lots of salt and your shells and follow the package instructions for cooking them.  You’ll probably want to add a couple extra shells in case any of them crack.  When they’re finished cooking, drain them and rinse them well with cool water.  Next, start on the sauce.  In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter with the hot sauce. 

Once it’s melted, go ahead and add ¼ teaspoon of each of the spices.

Stir and bring it just to a simmer, then remove it from the heat and set it aside.  It should look something like this:

Cut the chicken breasts into cubes. 

Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and sauté over medium heat. 

Once it’s cooked through, use your spatula and chop it into smaller bits.  Could you use a knife?  Sure, but that would require dirtying a cutting board and knife, so I opted for this method.

You want them fairly small. 

Pour the hot chicken over the cream cheese. 

Stir them until they are thoroughly mixed together.  Add the herbs and spices and stir them in, as well.  As you know from my buffalo wings post, I like ranch dressing with my wings, rather than blue cheese, so these are the herbs and spices used to make ranch.  If you prefer blue cheese with your wings, you're weird, but feel free to experiment using a mixture of cream cheese and blue cheese. 

Open one of your cooked shells and fill it with the chicken and cheese mixture. 

Coat the bottom of a pan (8x8 was perfect) with a thin layer of the buffalo sauce and place your shell inside. 

Repeat with the rest of the shells and pour the remaining buffalo sauce over the top. 

Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350° for 25 minutes, then uncover and top with grated cheese. 

Back into the oven just long enough to make the cheese ooey, gooey, and delicious. (like 10 minutes) 

Hubby had a friend over that evening, and I warned him it was experiment night because I’d never made these before and, as usual, wasn’t using a recipe.  When we finished he asked when the next experiment night was, so I guess that means he approves.  Personally, I thought they were absolutely fabulous.  Next time I think I might use ground chicken because, well, I’m lazy, and that will make less work for me.  I’ll probably also double the recipe.  We didn’t have any leftover, but if we had, I’m sure they’d have reheated beautifully. 

What two dishes would you like to see combined into one?