Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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

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.

5 comments:

Amy Rainey said...

This looks really good! I might have to break down and eat wheat one night for this one :) Have you ever tried making it without boiling the noodles?

SnoWhite said...

this sounds lovely.

UnfinishedMom said...

Amy - I have made it without boiling the noodles. Recently I started setting the noodles in a 9x13 pan of hot water for about 10-15 minutes and then using them in the lasagna. Putting them in the hot water softens them up a bit, but they still hold their shape and don't get limp at all. They're basically in the hot water long enough for me to prep the other ingredients and then they're ready to go.

Live.Love.Eat said...

chicken.mushroom.lasagna

wow.cool.delicious

thanks!

Joyce said...

I hope your husband is doing better and you are so nice to try and accommodate him without using tomatoes. I would cry if I had to give up tomatoes on my pizza.
Joyce

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