A Tale of Two Lasagnas

I really should be sleeping but I’m feeling guilty over lack of posts and I have so many recipes to share that I thought I would squeeze in a post before I nap for a bit. I still have some laundry to put away, cookies to put in the freezer after they’re done cooling and raisin bread to bake after they rise. Hubby isn’t off work for another 3 hours though so I think I’ll give my tired body a nap before I finish up for the night.

As I said in my last post, I’m making food for my Mom and Dad for Christmas. Since I have stuff to make for that, cookies for tins for my niece and nephews, and dessert for my family Christmas on Saturday, I’ve divided up everything I have to make throughout the week so I make 2 or 3 things each day. Yesterday I made Lasagnas for my Mom and Dad. If they taste even half as good as they smell they are going to be amazing!

My Mom is a diabetic, my Dad doesn’t eat any meat except poultry, neither of them eat spicy foods, my Dad won’t go anywhere near anything with garlic in it. All that makes most of the dishes I usually make for us no good for my Mom and Dad since we eat a lot of beef and pork, and we also love foods with a kick. So I made them a Chicken Lasagna and an Eggplant Lasagna. Both which I think they will love, especially the Chicken Lasagna, it was serious torture making that and not eating any! I didn’t actually bake them, but I put them together in little aluminum pans to freeze them, they are a perfect size so each pan is enough for one meal if they add some salad or something to go with it.

My pictures are even worse than usual because I forgot to take pics yesterday before I froze the lasagnas, so had to pull them out today frozen to get pics. I really need to get better at this picture taking stuff. I can take pics just fine of scenery, but food pics I’m no good at. Because they aren’t baked, they’re just put together to be frozen and baked later, they don’t look as good as they would look baked.

Chicken Lasagna

Inspired by White Cheese Chicken Lasagna by HDMac

½ cup Butter

1 Onion , chopped

½ cup All-Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

2 cups Chicken Broth

1 ½ cups Milk

4 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese , divided

1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese , divided

1 teaspoon Dried Basil

1 teaspoon Dried Oregano

½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

9 Lasagna Noodles (I used about 12 for 3 small aluminum pans)

2 cups Cottage Cheese(or Ricotta)

2 cups Cubed Cooked Chicken Meat

2 (10 ounce) packages Frozen Chopped Spinach , thawed and drained

2 cups Mushrooms, sliced and cooked until water is released

1 tablespoon Chopped Fresh Parsley

¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese , for topping

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat, and saute the onion until tender. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese and 1/2 the Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F/175C.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.

Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover with 1/3 of the noodles, cottage cheese, and chicken. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, mushrooms and the remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Top with remaining noodles and sauce mixture, and sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes.

 

Eggplant Lasagna

Inspired by I Lost My Noodles! Low Carb/South Beach Eggplant Lasagna by PattiCakeB

2 large Eggplants, peeled, sliced lengthwise into ¼ inch like “noodles”

Cooking Spray

Salt and Pepper

Meat Sauce

1 ½ lbs Ground Chicken

2 tbsp Olive Oil

2 Onions, chopped

1 16oz package Sliced Mushrooms

2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning

Salt and Pepper

1 10oz Package Frozen Chopped Spinach

1 28oz can Tomato Sauce

1 15oz can Diced Tomatoes(or 3 chopped Roma tomatoes)

Cheese Mixture

2 cups Cottage Cheese(or Ricotta)

2 Eggs

3 Green Onions, chopped

3 cups Shredded Mozzarella

½ cup Parmesan

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray cookie sheet, arrange eggplant slices and season with salt and pepper. Cook eggplant slices 5 minutes on each side.

Lower oven temp to 375.

Brown meat and onion in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, and cook 5 minutes. Add spinach, tomatoes and spices and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Blend ricotta, egg and onion together in separate bowl.

Spread 1/3 of meat sauce in bottom of 9” x 13” glass pan. Layer ½ eggplant slices, ½ ricotta, 1/3 mozzarella and parmesan.

Repeat.

Add last layer of sauce, then mozzarella and parmesan on top. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake or broil another 5-10 minutes until cheese is browned.

 

So that was part 1 of my parents gift, enough for  6 meals for the two of them.

 

Jolene