Chicken Lasagna

It is normally made with Beef/Mutton. But Chicken being widely accepted, I’ve tried a Chicken Lasagna and trust me, it’s divine!

Ingredients required for chicken lasagna:

Bechamel Sauce:

Butter – 60g

Flour – 40g

Milk – 500ml

Nutmeg Powder – ½ Tsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Chicken Prep:

Olive Oil – 5-6 Tbsp

Onions – 1 Large (Finely Chopped)

Celery – 2 Sticks (Finely Chopped)

Garlic – 4-5 Cloves (Finely Chopped)

Chicken (minced) – 500g

Tomato Paste – 1/4^th Cup

Tomato Puree – 800g

Sugar – 3 Tsp

Fresh Basil Leaves – 10-12 Leaves (Finely Chopped)

Oregano – 1 Tbsp

Paprika/Chilly flakes – 1-2 Tbsp (To your taste)

Salt & pepper to taste

Lasagna Assembling:

Lasagna Sheets – 500g

Cheese (Grated) – 400g (I’ve used a combination of Milk, Cheddar & Mozzarella cheese)

Options for cheese – Parmesan/Cheddar/Mozzarella

Bread Crumbs

How to prepare bechamel sauce for chicken lasagna:

Take a nonstick sauce pan on low heat and put butter to melt. Then stir in the flour. Make sure there are no lumps. Once the raw smell of flour is gone, pour in the milk. Continuous whisking is required to avoid lumps or milk from getting burnt. Now add the nutmeg powder, salt & pepper and let it simmer to a thick consistency. The consistency should be similar that of Alfredo sauce (white sauce). Once done, set it aside.

Chicken Prep:

Take a wide pan on medium heat with olive oil. Once hot, put in the finely chopped onions and let them get to golden brown. Now put in the celery & garlic and give it a good stir. Next goes in, the chicken. Stir it and let it cook for a minute or two before you pour in the tomato paste along with the puree. Let all the ingredients cook for 2-3 minutes. Once you see the puree bubbling, put in the sugar, oregano, basil leaves & paprika. A good stir once again. Add salt & pepper to taste.

You decide spice levels of the dish.

More paprika = More heat.

Chicken Lasagna assembling: (Pre-heat oven at 180°C)

Take a baking tray and grease it, either with butter or greasing spray. Now, the layering of Lasagna is totally to your liking/interest. I have layered it the following way,

Layer 1: Lasagna sheets – Bechamel Sauce (to cover the sheets completely) – Cheese

Layer 2: Lasagna sheets – Chicken – Bechamel Sauce (Very little)

Layer 3: Lasagna sheets – Chicken

Layer 4: Lasagna sheets – Bechamel Sauce – Cheese – Bread Crumbs

Baking Process:

Pre-heat the oven at 180°C for 5-10 min, while you assemble the chicken lasagna tray. Now cover the tray with aluminum foil, and bake for 35-40 min, with the bottom coil of the oven turned on. Remove the foil and bake for another 25-30 min. Poke in a knife/toothpick to check if the bottom most layer is cooked or no. It will be hard to pierce, if uncooked.

Now turn off the bottom coil & turn on the top coil for 5 min till you see the crust bubbling and golden brown.

Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before you serve.

Slightly lengthy procedure, but it is totally worth it!

**If you are as patient as me, to have piping hot food, bake it just an hour before you eat & on the other hand,

**If you hate to wait for your food, bake this much earlier before you eat & leave it in “Warm” mode in the oven.

Either way, you are rest assured; it’ll be deliciously lip-smacking JJ

Chocolate Mousse

CREAMY CHOCOLATE MOUSSE – the perfect ending to a meal.

Ingredients required for chocolate mousse:

Milk Chocolate (Compound) – 500g

Butter – 90g

Whipped cream – 200g

Egg white - 4

Egg yolk (Yellow) - 2

How to prepare chocolate mousse:

Melt the chocolate & butter in a glass bowl, microwave preferably for about 2-3 minutes on low,  and stir till it gets to a smooth liquid consistency (Use a larger bowl, as you’ll have to mix all the other ingredients into the chocolate+butter mixture). In another bowl take the whipped cream and whip it further, till you see the fluffy stiff peaks forming. Set it aside. In bowl No.3 whip the egg whites till the thick peaks form again.

Now into the chocolate mixture, put the egg yolks & stir slightly. Next, fold in the whipped egg white in small portions. Make sure you fold the mixture and not stir it. Profuse stirring will result in a dense textured mousse and not light and creamy.

After the egg white, fold in the whipped cream in the same manner. Make sure all the ingredients incorporate well into a creamy mixture.

And that’s it, the process is done. Simple isn’t it?

All you have to do now is pour it in a serving tray, place it in the fridge & wait n wait n wait till it sets properly.

Garnish (Optional)

You can garnish the mousse with choco-chips/choco-rice/grated chocolate/colorful sprinkles/chocolate truffle etc.

How to make chocolate truffle for garnish:

Melt a small chunk of dark chocolate and pour warm milk in it. Continuous stirring required. As soon as you pour milk, it forms into a lump. Continue stirring as it loosens up into a thick liquid. The thickness depends on your liking. More milk, more liquid consistency.

Recommended – Let it be little thick as it gets easy to garnish.

Once you put mousse in the fridge for setting, wait for 10-15 min and then pour the truffle on it and put it back in the fridge. This will avoid mousse and truffle mixing up.

Enjoy your creamy chocolaty mousse!