Chicken and Vegetable Lasagna With Three Cheeses

Submitted by gregory schulte

"from the rocky mountain news"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 50mins
• Ingredients: 25
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• Marinara Sauce

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1⁄2 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1⁄2 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed plum tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon red wine (or more to taste)
• 2 bay leaves
• red pepper flakes, few candy sprinkle
• 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• salt
• pepper
• brown sugar

• Lasagna

• 1 (9 ounce) box lasagna noodles
• 3 cups marinara sauce (above)
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 1 -2 garlic clove, minced
• 6 -8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1⁄2 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 1⁄2 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 3⁄4 cups fresh parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, grated

directions

1. Marinara:

2. heat olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat, add onion and cook till soft.
3. add garlic and cook till soft but not brown.
4. add red pepper and saute briefly, stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, bay leaves and red pepper flakes.
5. salt and pepper to taste.
6. stir in about 3 basil leaves and allow to cook in the sauce.
7. is sauce need to be sweetened add sugar.
8. bring sauce to a boil cove reduceto a simmer and heat for 1 hour, stir in remaining basil and remove form heat.

9. Lasagna:

10. cook pasta al dente according to package drain and set aside.
11. preheat oven to 375.
12. mix ricotta, one clove garlic and half of the basil set aside.
13. boil chicken breast in lightly salted water till done, remove from water and let it cool a little then shred it with a fork set aside.
14. in a heavy skillet over medium heat add olive oil and cook onion till soft.
15. add second garlic clove and cook till soft not brown.
16. add red pepper spinach and chicken.
17. stir in 3-4 basil leaves cook till vegetables are soft and remove from heat.
18. in a 9X13 spread a thin layer of marinara and cover with 3 noodles.
19. spread a small amount of ricotta on each noodle with a spoon.
20. spread about half of chicken mixture over noodles.
21. cover with marinara and sprinkle with parmasean.
22. repeat layer and cover with remaining pasta, cover with remaining marinara making sure all pasta is covered.
23. sprinkle with mozzarella and rest of the parmesean.
24. cover with foil tenting the middle to keep off the cheese and bake for 20 minutes.
25. remove foil and bake 10 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbling.
26. let sit for 5 minutes and serve.
27. platter over a small layer of marinara if desired.