Baked Chicken Recipes

Isn’t Lasagna one of everyone’s favorite dishes?   But you probably don’t think of oven chicken recipes when you think of Lasagna.  This Chicken Lasagna is full of flavor, and with the no-cook noodles – it isn’t the massive undertaking it used to be.  In fact there are only three or four steps to this fabulous dish!

Since plain chicken can be a bit on the bland side, we are going to intensify the flavor of this dish by adding half a pound of chopped lean bacon.  First we will heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large deep pot and we will quickly brown a pound of ground raw chicken with the bacon.  I find it is easier to separate the bacon pieces if I use a wooden spoon.  Now add a couple of crushed garlic cloves, a pound of cleaned leeks that have been sliced, and 4 diced carrots.  Cook this until the veggies are softened – about 5 minutes.  Now we will add 1 3/4 cups of chicken stock and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and salt and pepper to your liking.  Bring to a boil.  Then cover and let it simmer for about half an hour.

We are going to make a nice white sauce for our baked chicken recipe of Chicken Lasagna.  Melt half a stick of butter in a saucepan and add 4 tablespoons of flour.  I like to use a whisk for this part.  Now slowly incorporate 2 1/2 cups of warm milk, whisking well until smooth.  Bring to a oil, stirring constantly until it starts to thicken and simmer several minutes longer.  Add 1/2 cup of grated sharp white cheddar cheese and 1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper.  Adjust the seasonings to your taste.

Now have your oven heating to 375 degrees and we will build our dish.  You will need to have 12 sheets of “no precooking required” lasagna sheets.  In a large ovenproof dish, we are going to layer the chicken, lasagna, and sauce – in that order – but we are only going to use HALF of the sauce at this point.  Be sure to start and end with chicken.

Pour the other half of the sauce all over the top and sprinkle with another 1/2 cup of the sharp white cheddar cheese.  I personally love Cabot’s Seriously Sharp white cheddar.

Now the only thing missing from this baked chicken recipe is the baking.  One hour in the oven and you have yourself a gorgeous Chicken Lasagna!

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