Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

I promised a few months ago I would publish this recipe.  But life happens and I kept forgetting.  That could be my age.  I keep seeing these commercials....Anyway... I made it again last Friday and on Sunday I FINALLY remembered to take a picture of the last piece of it!

Probably could have displayed it better, but I was sleep deprived!

The past two times I have made this I have used the no cook noodles.  To do that requires more liquid but is a lot quicker than cooking the noodles.  I am including both versions here.  That way if you are a traditionalist, you can precook your noodles!

Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

Ingredients:

10 lasagna noodles

2 jars of White Alfredo pasta sauce (I don’t recommend Ragu.  Too greasy)

1 cup of milk (1/2 cup if using precooked noodles)

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

3 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken breasts (I just use 3 of the oversized breasts currently available)

½ cup chopped bell pepper (red looks pretty but green works fine)

¼ cup finely chopped onion

2 to 3 gloves of minced garlic

3 cups of shredded cheese, mozzarella is fine but I mix in parm if I have it

8 oz of ricotta cheese

4 to 6 ounces of fresh baby spinach

Lasagna pan or a 9x13 casserole dish

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Mix together ricotta, mozzarella, chopped chicken breast, pepper, onion, and garlic.  In a separate bowl, mix together sauce, milk and oregano.

To assemble the lasagna, spread about a third of the sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Top with a layer of noodles, slightly overlapping the edges.  It may be necessary to break a few to get good coverage.  Layer half of the spinach leaves over the noodles and then half of the chicken mixture.  Get your fingers involved.  It will probably be in lumps that you need to pat down to make a decent layer.

Repeat starting with half of the remaining sauce.  End with the remaining sauce.  It will be a tight fit but should work.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 0 to 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes.

This is a VERY rich dish.  Don’t leave out the spinach.  You can't taste it and you need the moisture from it to get it all to cook correctly. Besides, most of us can use the iron and vitamin D it provides.

If you have a Kitchen Aid or other large stand mixer, use that for shredding the chicken.  Just cut it into a few pieces, put in the mixer with the flat beater and mix for a minute or two to shred.  Easy!  Add the cheeses and vegetable and mix right there in that bowl.  Less mess.

Just came off of nights this morning and I don't have much more to offer.  This recipe reheats well.  I always need a balance of a salad or broccoli with it.  The boys like it just as it is with some garlic bread.

Keep stirrin'!

Mary

Linking up with Cole at All the Small Stuff for Tuesdays at the Table.