Gypsy's Trattoria Italiana Godfather's Favorite Pasta

This one is for my Cal people and anyone who has been to Gypsy's Trattoria Italiano in the Asian Ghetto.

For those of you who have no clue about the Ghetto, it is a food court of low cost college food that caters to the students of South side. While the quality isn't the best, it's open late, has a wide variety of food and is just part of the Cal college experience.

At Gypsy's, I only ever get one thing: the Godfather's Favorite. Now that I am out of school, I cant just pop over to Gypsy's when the craving happens. Well last week I was in the mood and decided to recreate my favorite dish.

While the recipe was not an exact copy-cat, it worked out well and definitely hit the spot.

Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Chicken

I have had some chicken breasts sitting in my fridge and they were nearing the end of their postmortem existence. As with a lot of my recipes, I am regularly inspired by the great muses, Expiration Date or Best If Used By.

I hate tossing food that has gone bad. It is just wasteful. Every week I look during my Great Fridge Purge and I group items together that need to be used sooner rather than later.

The good thing about cooking with this method is that it inspires some creative uses of food. Yes I could have just slopped some BBQ sauce and grilled them, but what's the fun with that?

Chicken Po'Boy on Garlic Bread

This is one of my favorite go-to dishes for an easy and tasty meal. It is a take on Emeril's Shrimp Scampi Po-Boy on Garlic Bread. I was given this recipe by Natalie for my Super Bowl Party menu. At the Super Bowl Party, I followed the recipe with shrimp and it was a hit.

I wanted to make it again for someone that missed out the first time but they are not a huge fan of shellfish. This is what led me to try a different protein: chicken. I modified the recipe slightly for chicken and out came a sandwich that is just amazing. This is the type of food that goes quickly amongst leftovers in the fridge...that is if it makes it to leftover status.