The Jones' Chicken 'n Spinach Pasta Bake

Friends of ours from Wake Forest and Morris Nichols made this dish when we visited their home in Wilmington, DE.  They, along with their three little ones, have since moved to Raleigh, interestingly within a month of our move, but we keep in touch.  

In looking for recipes for this project, I ran across this dish and have somewhat vague memories of really enjoying the meal.  Frankly, we would not have asked for the recipe if it wasn't pretty good.  I do remember them telling us that this dish is extraordinarily easy to make. Anyone up for testing it out again with us?

 

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked rigatoni
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Cup finely chopped onion
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 C cubed cooked chicken breasts
1 (14.5 oz) can Italian style diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) container chive & onion cream cheese (I use lowfat)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

 

Directions:

1. prepare rigatoni according to package directions.
2. spread oil on bottom of an 11x7 baking dish, add onion in a single layer & bake on 375 for 15 minutes or until just tender. transfer onion to large bowl and set aside.
3. drain chopped spinach, well, pressing between layers of paper towels.
4. stir rigatoni, spinach, chicken, and next 4 ingredients into onion in bowl. spoon mixture into baking dish, and sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.
5. bake, covered on 375 for 30 minutes, uncover and bake 15 minutes more or until bubbly.