Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

Ingredients

• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 5-6 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chicken base (or 3 bouillon cubes)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1 ½ cups grated parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 box lasagna noodles (traditional dried or no-boil)
• 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 15 ounce whole-fat ricotta cheese
• 15 ounce frozen chopped spinach (thawed and well-drained)
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Optional Add-ins: fresh basil (nutmeg, and/or crushed red pepper in the ricotta filling.)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the Alfredo Sauce: Set a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the butter and flour to the pan. Whisk well to form a roux, then continue to cook for 2 minutes. Toss in the minced garlic and stir well. Cook the roux with the garlic for another minute, then stir in the Italian seasoning, chicken base, onion powder, and heavy cream. Bring the sauce to a simmer, then stir in the Parmesan cheese. Once the Parmesan cheese is fully melted into the sauce, taste, and salt and pepper as needed. Turn off the heat and set aside.

2. 2

   Cook the Pasta (if needed): You can use traditional pasta sheets or no-boil lasagna sheets for this recipe. If cooking traditional pasta, set a large pot of salted water over high heat. Bring it to a boil, then place the lasagna noodles in the pot. Gently stir and submerge the noodles in the water. Cook according to the package instructions. Once cooked to al dente, carefully lift the pasta sheets out of the water and lay them on a clean work surface to cool.

3. 3

   Make the Spinach Ricotta Filling: Set out a medium bowl. Place the ricotta cheese in the bowl. Place the drained chopped spinach in a sieve and press it firmly to remove all excess water. It needs to be very dry. Then place the chopped spinach in the bowl with the ricotta. Salt and pepper liberally, and stir to combine. *If desired, add a dash or two of nutmeg, crushed red pepper flakes, or even some fresh chopped basil.

4. 4

   Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set out a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

5. 5

   To Assemble: Place a small scoop of alfredo sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Spread it around in the thin layer. Then add three lasagna noodles across the bottom of the baking dish. Top the lasagna noodles with 1 cup of chopped cooked chicken, approximately 1 cup of ricotta mixture, and 1 ¼ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Then scoop 1/3 of the remaining Alfredo sauce over the ingredients. Repeat with two more layers of lasagna noodles, chicken chunks, ricotta mixture, mozzarella cheese, and Alfredo sauce, creating 3 complete layers. *When you are finishing the third layer, the lasagna looks prettiest if you put the Alfredo sauce down before the final layer of mozzarella cheese, but it's not necessary.

6. 6

   Bake: Cover the baking dish with a sheet of foil and wrap the edges tightly. Bake for 30 minutes. Then carefully remove the foil and bake additional 15-20 minutes until the lasagna is golden on top and bubbly around the edges.