White Cheese Chicken Lasagna

I've been a little lax on my posting lately. Don't fear - we've still been cooking; the homework has just been getting to the rest of my free time. :-( Thankfully, we had time a couple weekends ago to try out this lasagna. This is definately one of those recipes that makes every single dish in the kitchen dirty! See the picture below. That was the 2nd sink-load of dishes. Nevertheless, the result was totally WORTH IT! If you don't mind washing a few dishes, you definately need to try this recipe.

This is another recipe that I found cruising on allrecipes.com. It's one of those recipes that I've had stuck in my stack on the fridge, but just hadn't gotten around to trying. I made a few modifications to the original recipe - mostly just personal preferences and small changes trying to make it a little healthier - but we stayed pretty true to the original intent of the recipe. I'll add my changes in pink.

Doesn't it look delicious! If you have time, I would definately recommend making it!

White Cheese Chicken Lasagna  - modified from allrecipes.com

12 whole-wheat lasagna noodles, cooked

1 Tbsp. butter (at most)

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced (we like garlic)

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2 c. chicken broth

1-1/2 c. milk (skim is all we use)

4 c. shredded mozarella cheese, divided

1 c. grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. black ground pepper

2 c. low-fat cottage cheese (personal preference over ricotta)

2 c. cubed, cooked chicken

2 (10oz) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven.