White Chicken & Spinach Lasagna

This recipe was originally featured on Mamamash

Ingredients

• 9 lasagna noodles (Note, you may need up to 15 noodles depending on brand/size)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, mined
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (pulled from rotisserie chicken works best)
• 2 (10 oz) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil, drain and rinse lasagna noodles.
3. Make the white sauce by melting butter in 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 about a minute. Stir in half of the mozzarella (2 cups) and Parmesan (1/2 cup). Season with basil, oregano, and black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Layer the lasagna by spreading a little of the white sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Layer with 3 of the noodles, half of the ricotta, half of the chicken, and half of the spinach. Pour about 1/3 of the remaining sauce over the top. Repeat for 2nd layer. Place the last three noodles on top and pour the remaining 1/3 of the white sauce over he top. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Top with parsley.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven until the cheese is browned and bubbly. Let it rest on the counter for several minutes before cutting so it holds its shape better.

Tips & Tricks

• The spinach won’t save you from the calories you are about to consume, but your heart will be so happy.
• When making the sauce, watch your texture. Add half of the cheese dedicated to it to start, then add in more until it’s thick, but still a sauce. Too thick? Add a bit of chicken stock to thin it again.
• I don’t always use all of the ricotta cheese, you are free to determine how much to use in each layer.
• The lasagna noodles won’t fully fill the 9×13 pan from side to side. You can boil a couple extra noodles and cut them as necessary if you would like but it isn’t necessary.