Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Lasagna
Suddenly, we are experiencing cooler weather; holiday season is around the corner and more substantial dishes start landing on my dinner table. Lasagna was always one of those dishes but over the past couple of years it began to feel a bit too rich with all that cheese. Everything changed though, when I made the Chicken and Mushroom lasagna recipe below, which I adapted from Gourmet magazine. It certainly satisfies any lingering lasagna cravings without having to take a nap after the meal.
The flavor reminded me of a pizza I ate in a small Italian restaurant in Mill Valley years ago. Chicken was an uncommon item on pizza back then, and my husband and I were immediately hooked. For months after that we ate it almost weekly.
This lasagna has the same delicious combination of chicken and mushrooms along with a cheesy white sauce that gives this dish a luscious flavor. Like a traditional lasagna there are a few steps, but you can double the recipe for another meal or two and even freeze it. Once cooked, the lasagna can go from the freezer directly into an oven.
The recipe calls for no-boil lasagna noodles as well as rotisserie chicken, both of which save you time. Adding the cheese sauce to the shredded chicken keeps the chicken moist. You could also substitute leftover turkey, which also would benefit from being cooked in a cheesy sauce. I used cremini mushrooms—you can use whatever you have on hand, but soon there will be wild mushrooms in the stores and they have wonderful flavor. To me the best and most unusual ingredient in this lasagna is the gruyere cheese. It adds an unusually distinct flavor to the lasagna without being overpowering. I added baby spinach, as you can see in the picture, but a combination of super baby greens (spinach, chard, and kale) also works well, though any greens will work here and contribute welcome moisture and lightness to the dish.
Preheat Oven 425°
Serves 4
Ingredients:
½ rotisserie chicken about 2 ½ cups shredded
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
¾ lb sliced cremini mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup of dry vermouth, or dry white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (½ stick)
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons thyme
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 ½ cups gruyere cheese grated (use the big hole side of the grater)
4 cups of washed baby spinach leaves (baby super greens work well here too)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat a Dutch oven over medium low heat. Add the olive oil, mushrooms, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Shake the skillet so the garlic doesn’t burn. Cook the mushrooms for a couple minutes until they start to soften, add the vermouth, and cook until almost absorbed: about 2 minutes. Then transfer to a bowl and add the shredded chicken.
Next, melt the butter in the pan over low heat. Add the flour, whisking to combine. Cook the roux for a couple minutes and then slowly add the milk, still whisking to discourage lumps (you will have some, but they will melt away eventually—keep whisking!). Increase the heat slightly. Add the thyme, another pinch of salt and pepper, and cook, continuing to whisk gently until the mixture thickens. Take off heat and reserve 1 cup of the sauce.
Pour the rest into the mushroom mixture along with the parmesan cheese, combine and set aside. In an 8” square pan, pour half of the reserved sauce into the bottom of the pan. Cover with three noodles (they will overlap), evenly distribute 1/3 of the baby greens on top of the noodles and pour 1/3 of the chicken mushroom mixture over the top. Top that with ¼ of the gruyere cheese. Repeat the noodles, greens, the chicken/mushroom sauce, and gruyere two more times. You might have to press the greens down a bit, but they will shrink while they cook. Finally, layer three more noodles, the rest of the reserved cheese sauce and top with the remaining gruyere cheese.
Cover with foil, place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Take off the foil and cook another 10 minutes until the noodles are golden and crispy. Rest it for ten minutes.
Once cooled, the lasagna can be wrapped tightly in foil and frozen for up to a month. Cook for 40 minutes @ 425° in the foil and then let rest for 5 minutes before serving.