Ben has been asking me to make a chicken lasagna for quite a long time now, but I never found a recipe that looked just right to me so I kept putting it off. I was in the process of creating my own version from the many recipes I had read through, but then I saw this version on Renea’s blog and it looked perfect – she saved me the trouble! Last week was a perfect opportunity to give this a try as it used up a lot of the leftover ingredients from the chicken and spinach quesadillas we had a few days earlier. This recipe did not disappoint! It was just the kind of thing I was looking for – a classic type of lasagna but with the chicken and spinach flavors very clearly coming through. Delicious! As usual, lasagna is incredibly un-photogenic, but just trust me, the taste makes up for it.
I made mine in a 2.5 quart casserole dish as I did not want to make a whole 9×13″ lasagna in case it did not turn out well. We ended up with 6 large servings. The curved edges of the dish didn’t cause much of a problem with the lasagna noodles. I just broke off a few corners to make them fit well. I really liked being able to have lasagna but not have a whole week’s worth, and I’ll try using a smaller dish again in the future.
Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast
salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
½ large onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 (24-oz.) jar pasta sauce
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
9-12 lasagna noodles, uncooked (depending on size of dish)
2 cups spinach, chopped
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
Place the chicken breast in a large non-stick skillet and season with salt and pepper. Grill over medium-high heat until cooked through. Cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
Add 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and continue to sauté until onion is tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add the pasta sauce and the chicken to the skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 5 minutes while making the ricotta layer.
In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, egg and Italian seasoning. Stir until well combined.
In a baking dish, spoon a thin layer of the pasta sauce mixture so that it just coats the bottom of the dish. Top with one layer of lasagna noodles so that they cover the sauce completely. Spread one half of the ricotta mixture over the noodles and sprinkle with one cup of chopped spinach. Layer with one third of the pasta sauce mixture. Repeat the layers again with noodles, ricotta mixture with spinach, and pasta sauce. The last layer will be noodles, the remaining pasta sauce and shredded mozzarella.
Cover with foil and bake at 375° for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes more. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Source: adapted from Sweet Savory Southern
