This is similar to my lasagna, which is much whiter. But it does have noodles and cheese in it.
Cooking stresses me out.
Not enough not to do it -- obviously, considering my girth. But the whole time I'm in the kitchen, I'm worried that I'm going to slice a digit off or, worse yet, ruin the dish I'm attempting to make. Then, I'll spiral out of control and end up on the phone with Mazzio's, crying, "I've ruined dinner! Save me with your extra large pepperoni!!!" Sorry, that sounded bad.
Anyway, as I stayed home Sunday, I decided to create a dinner based around the package of lasagna noodles I found in my pantry. At first, I thought about being lazy, just boiling them and putting a couple pats of butter on top. The end.
But then I thought a white lasagna -- what more cultured people apparently refer to as "lasagna blanco" or, if they're feeling more feminine, "lasagna blanca" -- would be terrific.
I have some frozen sausage, but chicken sounded healthier. Not that it mattered because I was totally going to dump two pounds of shredded Parmesan and mozzarella between the meat and noodle layers.
Other than the requisite spices, all I needed was an Alfredo sauce. Well, my version of it, anyway. See, I tend to burn sauces, which is why I always doctor up stuff from a jar.
But I wanted things to be more
authentico -- or
authentica -- so I made my own. And it actually turned out OK. Granted, the two pounds of cheese (I'm totally not exaggerating) probably overpowered what was probably a weak sauce (nonfat milk, butter, a smidgen of flour, a ton of garlic). But whatever, I had two helpings of it, then had leftovers for work-day lunches.
Here's my recipe, a variation on the Lasagna Blanca I found from Better Homes & Gardens' web site, plus a low-fat Alfredo tweaked from FoodNetwork.com:
Jason Ashley's Lasagna Blanco with Artichokes and 'Shrooms
for the highly necessary Alfredo sauce1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (
Don't use lemon juice -- trust me.)
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup low-fat milk (
I used skim, and it still turned out well.)
Salt
2 tablespoons low-fat cream cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (
I used a cup, but I'm a whore like that.)
for the rest of the thing3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced (
I usually saute mine on the stove top with a little onion and garlic.)
1/2 cup white onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup Parmesan, shredded
4 cups Velveeta (
Just kidding.)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 package lasagna noodles, boiled (
I used 15 noodles -- five for each layer.)
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (
Or two small cans, which is what I had to use, sorry.)
1 jar artichokes, drained
1. In a large skillet with a little olive oil, cook chicken and onion until chicken is cooked through; drain well. Stir in garlic powder and pepper; set aside.
2. For sauce, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and lemon zest, and cook until the garlic is slightly soft, about 1 minute. Add in flour, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon,1 minute. Whisk in milk and 3/4 teaspoon salt, and cook, whisking constantly, until just thickened, about 3 minutes. Add cream cheese and Parmesan; whisk until melted, about 1 minute. Set aside.
3. Grease a 2-quart rectangular baking dish; set aside. Then add the mushrooms and artichokes to the Alfredo sauce (
unless you want to wait a step and add them 1/3 at a time like you do the other stuff below).
4. Boil noodles per package directions, blah, blah, blah. Apply one layer of noodles in the baking dish, then use 1/3 of chicken-onion mixture, followed by 1/3 of Alfredo with the 'shrooms and 'chokes, then 1/3 of your mozz-Parm supply. Repeat that three times. In the baking dish, not verbally (
although it's still cumbersome to say fast).
5. I baked mine for 30-35 minutes at 325, uncovered. The Better Homes & Garden folk recommended it covered at 350 for 40 minutes in their version, but mine turned out fabulously, so whatever.
6. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 12 servings – or, if you’re me, 8.
Peace, love and Parmesan ... XOXO
