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

Pasta in Alfredo Sauce

An Italian favourite and something easy to make at home - Pasta in Alfredo Sauce .

Ingredients for Pasta in Alfredo Sauce:

Pasta (Penne Rigate) – 500 g

Chicken – ½ Kg (boneless)

Cheese – 150 g (Cheddar/Parmesan/Cream cheese - grated)

All-purpose flour (Maida) – 6 Tbsp

Butter – 3 Tbsp (Semi-solid)

Milk – 1 Lt

Onion – 1 (small, 2halves)

Cloves – 2 Nos

Bay Leaf – 2 Nos

Ginger-Garlic paste – 2 Tbsp

Thyme/Parsley – 1 Tsp

Olive oil – 1 Tbsp

Salt & Pepper to taste

Procedure - Pasta in Alfredo Sauce:

Chicken Prep:

Cut chicken into desired cubes, mix ginger-garlic paste, parsley & salt and let it marinate for 5 minutes. Then fry chicken pieces in a shallow pan with little oil. Make sure chicken is not over-cooked/fried & turned into brown. It got to be tender and white in colour even after frying. Take it off heat and let it rest.

Sauce Prep:
Take a deep dish with milk, onion halves, cloves & bay leaf and heat it. Take it off heat as soon as you see the first boil.

Now take a sauce pan on low heat. Put butter and let it melt. Then put in the flour. Continuous whisking is important as the flour might form lumps or get burnt. Once you do not get the raw smell of flour anymore, pour in the milk. Remember; do not stop stirring/whisking. The flour tends to make the milk a little thicker. Put in thyme, salt & pepper. Now put on the grated cheese and continue stirring till all of it is melted. Taste for the balance of salt and pepper according to your preference. Finally, fold in the chicken pieces and give it a good stir. Take it off heat and let it rest for 5-10 min.

Boiling Pasta:

Take a deep dish and fill it with water. Add salt & 1 Tbsp olive oil and bring it to boil. Now put in the pasta and stir so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. It should normally take 8-10 minutes for it to cook. Do not stir much, as it leads to breaking of pasta. Once cooked, drain the water. Drizzle the pasta with the same oil that you fried chicken with. This not only keeps the pasta glazed but also gives the chicken flavour to it. Serve hot and enjoy the creamy Pasta in Alfredo Sauce.

Vegetarians:

You can totally skip the chicken part. In accordance to your preferences, you can add veggies.

Recommended veggies – Cauliflower, Capsicum, Broccoli, Zucchini etc.