Creamy Chicken Lasagne

As mentioned in my previous Lasagne post, everyone in my house loves Lasagne. This is the second time I tried it. The first time I had made Lasagne, it was a vegetarian one – Vegetarian Lasagna. This time I wanted to try something different. Since my hubby and I both love white sauce, I made this delicious creamy chicken and spinach Lasagne loaded with cheese which was an instant hit. Everyone loved it and I am sure this will become a regular in my house now :

You might also be interested in some of our other Italian recipes : Potato Frittata, Veg Calzone, Chicken Spaghetti, Veg Pizza.

Note that for this recipe I have used direct baking Lasagne sheets which do not require pre-cooking. But I prefer to place them in boiling water for a minute before using them so as to moisten them.

Serves: 3-4
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken: 2 cups cut into small pieces
Spinach : 2 cups shredded
Lasagne Sheets: 8-9

To make white sauce:
Butter: 1/2 cup
Onion: 1 finely chopped
Garlic Paste: 1 tsp
All purpose flour:  1/2 cup
Chicken Stock: 2 cups
Milk: 1.5 cups
Mozzarella Cheese: 2 cups
Parmesan Cheese: 1/4 cup
Dried Basil: 1 tsp
Oregano: 1 tsp
Pepper Powder: 1/2 tsp
Salt: to taste

Final Steps
Mozzarella Cheese: 2.5 cups
Parmesan Cheese: 6 tbsp

Method of Preparation:

1. Take 2-3 cups of water in a pan. Add salt and chicken pieces and let cook till chicken is tender. Remove chicken pieces and keep aside. Keep stock for later use.

2. Boil water in a large pan and add salt to it.
3. Place a lasagne sheet in the boiling water for a minute. Remove and let cool on wire rack. Repeat with other sheets.

To make white sauce

1. Melt butter in a pan. Saute the onion and garlic paste till onion is translucent.
2. Stir in the all purpose flour and salt and stir well. Cook for a minute stirring continuously.
3. Mix in the chicken stock, milk and bring to boil, stirring continuously for a minute.
4. Stir in the mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese and mix well.
5. Add basil, oregano and pepper powder and mix well. Remove and keep aside.

Final steps

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Grease the baking tray. Add 1/3 of white sauce at the bottom of the tray.Arrange lasagne sheets over it so as to cover the white sauce.
3. Add half the chicken and half the spinach over the lasagne sheets. Cover with 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese.
4. Cover with lasagne sheets. Add 1/3 of the white sauce over the lasagna sheets. Add the rest of the chicken pieces and rest of the spinach. Cover with 1 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese.
5. Cover with lasagne sheet. Add rest of the white sauce over it to cover the lasagne sheets. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 2 tbsp Parmesan cheese over it.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes. I usually cover with aluminium foil for the first 20 minutes of baking and remove the aluminium foil for the last 10 minutes.