Creamy Chicken Lasagna

Well..It is cold outside and I am in the mood for some yummy comfort food....I am really in a good mood for cooking :)..On my way back home from office I stopped for grocery shopping...Wandering in the aisles figuring out what should I be cooking for dinner, these oven ready Lasagna sheets caught my eye...Voila ..There you go...Chicken Lasagna it is!!!
Ok..enough of my story..Below is the recipe to make my version of Chicken Lasagna.

Ingredients

12 lasagna noodles (12 oz)

1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper(I used assortment of green, red and yellow bell peppers, 1/2 of each)
5 cloves garlic (sounds like a lot but trust me it tastes yum)
2 Jalapenos
2 cups spinach
3/4 cup chopped onions (1 1/2 medium)
1/3 cup milk
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 jar alfredo sauce (15oz)
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon pepper
1 container (12 oz) Ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 breast + 3 thighs Chicken (You can just use 2 breasts or 6 to 8 thighs)

Method

For Chicken

Preheat the oven to 375F. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried herb Provence on both sides of the chicken pieces and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil. Put the sheet in the oven and let the chicken cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Once done take the pieces onto a plate and let them cool. Then shred the chicken or you can just cut it into bite size pieces.

Note

herb Provence is a mixture of Thyme, Marjoram, basil, fennel, sage and lavender. You can find this at any grocery store in the spice aisle. If you could not find this no biggie..just sprinkle some dried basil or Thyme.

For Soup Mixture

Chop the veggies real fine.

Take a sauce pan and heat the butter. Saute the onions, garlic, bell peppers, Jalapeno. Let them cook till they are crisp tender. Add spinach and let cook for a minute. Turn off the stove and stir in the milk, soup, alfredo sauce, ricotta cheese, basil and pepper.

Assembling the Lasagna

Heat the oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch(3-quart) baking dish with cooking spray.
Place 4 noodles in the baking dish.  Top the noodle with 1 cup of soup mixture(enough to cover the noodles),  some shredded chicken, 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Cheddar cheese. Repeat layers once, starting with noodles. Place remaining 4 noodles over top. Top with remaining soup mixture, mozzarella cheese and Cheddar cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top.

Bake uncovered 50 to 55 minutes or until bubbly and hot in center. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese on top before eating if you are a cheese lover like me :)..
Not Bad for a Friday night..Huh??

Variations

Use mushrooms instead of chicken and cream of mushroom sauce instead of chicken soup to make a vegan version.
Instead of Alfredo sauce you can throw in a jar of Prego tomato sauce (or any seasoned tomato sauce of your preference) .