Chicken Mushroom Lasagna

About 18 months ago my husband was diagnosed with GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease). There was a long list of items he could no longer eat including fried foods (okay, no big deal), citrus (hmm, a bit harder to avoid, but doable), onion, garlic & spicy foods (okay more bland food can be okay), and tomato products of all kinds (oh my goodness - do you know how many recipes have tomatoes in them? LOTS!)

So, I began to make, well, "boring" food. I had to elminate all tomato foods. I struggled with this for a while.  So he ate a lot of Peanut Butter Granola bars and plain fruits and veggies. In the course of finding foods that he could eat I searched out a recipe for lasagna that didn't have tomato. Eventually I took parts of one recipe, added in some parts of a lasagna recipe I already had and came up with this new one.

Chicken Mushroom Lasagna

(printable recipe)

Ingredients (in order of use):

• 16 lasagna noodles*
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/3 Cup chopped onion
• 1 (4.5 ox) can sliced mushrooms drained**
• 3 Tblsp. chicken broth
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/3 Cup milk
• 1 tsp dried chopped basil
• 2-3 Cups shredded chicken (approx.)
  
• 4 Cups ricotta cheese***
• 1 Cup + ½ Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 Cup + ½ Cup shredded cheddar cheese
• ¼ Cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

Directions:
Prepare 3 layers: Noodle Layer, Chicken/Mushroom Layer, Cheese Layer

Noodle Layer:
1.  Boil lasagna noodles as directed on package. (or use this fantastic tip from High and Noble Calling). Drain noodles and lay flat on cookie sheets, wax paper or foil.


Chicken/Mushroom Layer:
2. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan. Saute chopped onion until soft and translucent.
3. Add 3 Tblsp chicken broth and mushrooms.
4. Stir in soup, milk and basil. Mix well. Simmer 10-15 minutes to reduce liquid.
5. Add shredded chicken and remove from heat.

Cheese Layer:
6. Mix together ricotta, 1 cup each mozzarella, and cheddar cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper.

Assembly:
7. Pour ½ cup soup mixture on bottom of 9x13 pan.
8. Arrange 4 pieces lasagna lengthwise over sauce, overlapping edges.
9. Spread 1/3 cheese mixture over noodles.
10. Cover with 1 cup chicken/mushroom sauce
11. Repeat layers of lasagna, chicken/mushroom sauce and cheeses twice each (3 sets of layers altogether).
12. Top with layer of noodles and remaining chicken/mushroom sauce.
13. Sprinkle ½ cup mozzarella and ½ cup cheddar over noodles.

Baking:
14. Cover with foil. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
15. Remove foil and bake 10 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
For refrigerated lasagna: bake 1 hour, 15 minutes
For frozen lasagna: bake approx 2 hours.

Notes:
* I usually prepare 1-3 extra noodles because I usually have a few that break.
** Substitute fresh, thinly sliced mushrooms (~ ½ lb) if you choose.
*** Substitute well-drained cottage cheese if you prefer.