Lisa's Dinnertime Dish: Another Rediscovered Recipe, Chicken Lasagna Alfredo

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Last week while I was looking through some old cookbooks and found my lost chicken chili recipe, I also rediscovered this chicken lasagna recipe. Both were in a Pampered Chef cookbook. Finding this lasagna recipe was really great timing for me since we were having a big birthday party at our house on Saturday. I was already planning to make traditional lasagna, so what the heck, why not make a chicken lasagna, too?

     Well, the lasagna was a huge success! The entire pan was gone! I was a little sad about this because I was hoping for at least one leftover piece for lunch...but oh well. The party was a success as well, but I can't believe my "little" Nicole is going to be 22 and my "little" Alex is going to be 17. They grow up so fast.

     This lasagna is actually pretty easy to make. I did make a couple of changes from the original recipe, though. The original calls for a jar of alfredo sauce, but I made my own (you certainly could use a 16 oz jar if you wanted). It also called for a can of artichoke hearts (which I think would be delicious), but my family isn't crazy about them, so I put in zucchini instead. For the cooked chicken, you can certainly use a rotisserie chicken to make things easier.

Chicken Lasagna Alfredo

Adapted From Pampered Chef 's Celebrate

6 no-boil lasagna noodles (I used Trader Joe's, but Barilla also makes them)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 1/4 cups milk, divided (I used 1%)
a pinch of nutmeg (I used freshly grated)
about 3 oz of shredded 3 cheese Italian (mine was a combo of parmesan, asiago and romano)
salt and pepper (go easy on the salt since the cheese is fairly salty)
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
3 cups coursely chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups shredded mozzarella (I used reduced fat)
4 oz crumbled feta cheese (I used reduced fat)
2 cups packed fresh baby spinach

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once butter is melted, whisk in flour and allow to cook for a minute.

Whisking constantly, slowly add 2 cups of milk. Continue whisking and allow to come to a bubble and cook until mixture starts to thicken.

Add nutmeg and stir in. At this point, turn the heat off and stir in the cheese, about 1/3 at a time until it's melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Set sauce aside and allow to cool. Meanwhile, chop veggies.

In a large bowl, thoroughly combine chicken, zucchini, red pepper, onion, garlic and mozzarella and feta cheeses

In a smaller bowl, combine sauce with remaining 1/4 cup milk and oregano.

To assemble lasagna, spread 2/3 cup of the alfredo sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

Top with 3 lasagna noodles.

Layer half of the spinach leaves over noodles.

Top with half of the chicken mixture.

Repeat layers, starting with half the remaining sauce spread over the chicken mixture, then noodles, spinach, chicken mixture and remaining sauce.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Cut into 12 squares and serve.