Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
cooking spray
56 oz. (2 28 oz. cans) tomato sauce (I used 2 jars of spaghetti sauce)
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning, divided
2 tsp. garlic powder, divided
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion
1 lb. uncooked ground chicken breast (used 3 boneless chicken breasts, cubed, instead)
30 oz. ricotta or cottage cheese
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
9 items dry whole-wheat lasagna noodles (didn't have on hand, so I used rigatoni)
20 oz. chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Coat a large, deep lasagna pan with cooking spray.
3. Combine tomato sauce, 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning, and 1 tsp. garlic powder. Measure 2 cups of tomato sauce mixture; set aside.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until almost tender (about 3-4 minutes). Add chicken; cook until no longer pink, stirring frequently, about 4-5 minutes.
5. Add remaining sauce to skillet and stir until well combined; set aside.
6. Mix together ricotta/cottage cheese, egg whites, and remaining Italian seasoning and garlic powder in a large bowl until well combined.
7. To assemble lasagna, place 2 cups of reserved sauce on bottom of dish. Layer with 3 noodles, 1/3 of ricotta/cottage cheese mixture, 1/3 of spinach, 1/3 of mozzarella cheese, and 1/3 of chicken-sauce mixture; repeat layers ending with chicken-sauce mixture. (Make sure to spread ingredients to the edge of the noodles.)
8. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese is melted and edges are bubbly, about 30 minutes more.
9. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes:
- If your pan is not very deep, only use two layers of noodles and reduce the filling ingredients by 1/3.
- I usually like onions cooked into various dishes, but did not care for it too much in the lasagna. I may omit this next time.
Garlic Herb Swirl Bread
Dough:
3 1/4 cups bread flour, divided
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 pkg. (2 1/4 tsp.) active dry yeast or quick-rise yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup very warm water (115-125 degrees F)
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened or melted
Swirl:
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
2 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (I used Italian blend, pre-shredded in the bag)
1. In a large bowl or the bowl of a heavy duty mixer, combine 2 cups bread flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add in water and butter/margarine and mix by hand or on low speed for 1 minute. Add in remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough is moist, but not sticky.
2. Knead dough for about 10 minutes by hand or with the dough hook on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic (I love my KitchenAid!). Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over to coat with oil. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (75-85F) until doubled in bulk, 40-45 minutes.
3. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
4. Punch down the dough and place onto lightly floured work surface.
5. Roll the dough into a large rectangular no more than 9" wide.
6. Combine swirl ingredients and spread evenly over top of dough, leaving 1/2" at end to help seal loaf. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top of butter mixture.
7. Tightly roll dough up into cylinder shape, pinching and tucking ends to form a tight seal and pinching seam to seal. Place seam side down into prepared pan.
8. Oil the surface of the loaf and cover loosely with a clean cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 20-45 minutes. (If desired, you can top the loaf with Parmesan cheese.)
9. Preheat the oven to 450. Bake the loaf for 10 minutes.
10. Reduce the heat to 350 and bake about 30 minutes longer. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
11. Remove the loaf from the pan to a rack and let cool completely before slicing.
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