{chicken pesto lasagna}

A perfect spin on the classic lasagna.

Kinda healthy…loads of spinach (that you really can’t even taste – let’s be honest) and greek yogurt.  Ok, it’s totally NOT healthy, but let’s just go with it…haha.  Maybe I will swap zucchini slices for the noodles next time?  Yeah, probably not!!!

Think rich pesto + shredded rotisserie chicken + loads of cheese.  Oh my!  With ingredients like these, it’s sure to be a hit in any household.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup greek yogurt
• 1 can chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I used a rotisserie)
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 1/3 cup basil pesto
• 1 egg
• lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat no-boil noodles to save time)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

That’s a lot of ingredients, huh?  This is one of the reasons it took me so long to make it…lol.  Don’t trip – it’s worth it 🙂

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Unless you are making the night before, like I always do.

In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic.  Saute about 5 minutes, until soft.

In a small bowl combine the basil, salt, pepper and flour.  Pour into the pan with onion mixture and whisk until the oil is absorbed.

Combine milk, greek yogurt and chicken broth in a bowl.  Stir until smooth.  Gradually add liquid to pan, whisking constantly.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until mixture is slightly thickened.

Add chicken to white sauce and remove from heat.

In a medium bowl (I know…so many bowls), stir together ricotta, pesto and egg.

To assemble – wet bottom of casserole dish with 1/3 cup of white sauce.  Layer noodles on top.  Spread with 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture.  Top with one big handful (about 1 cup) spinach.  Top spinach with 1/3 cup white sauce and spread evenly over all the edges.  Top with 1/3 cup mozzarella.  Then repeat twice more: noodles, ricotta, spinach, white sauce and cheese (in that order).

Sprinkle top of lasagna with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.  Spray a sheet of foil with pam (nonstick spray) and place over lasagna.

Either refrigerate at this point.  Or bake for about 50 minutes.

After 50 minutes, remove foil and turn oven to broil.  Don’t walk away.  It only takes about 1-3 minutes for the top to get golden brown and bubbly.

Enjoy 🙂

I served this along side sliced lemon cucumbers from my Aunt Penny’s garden with Seka Hills (duh) balsamic + salt + pepper.  So damn good!!

Who doesn’t love lasagna?  Well, maybe not in this nasty heat.

Remember you can always “pin” this recipe to one of your pinterest boards to save for later.  Just hover your mouse over the lasagna photo and a PIN image will appear.

 

xoxo stacyb