Cranberries and Croutons: Luscious Lasagna

Let's get serious. A combination of alfredo, chicken, mozzarella, ricotta, pasta, and spinach is bound to be successful. Last night, on an oddly cold March 27th evening, I was inspired to bring those ingredients together so that they could become warm and cuddly friends.

I LOVE making lasagnas. They are kind of messy, take some prep work, and usually yield a pile-up of annoyingly dirty pans, but they are so worth it. Every single time.

No-boil lasagna noodles are almost as exciting an invention to me as steam-in-the-bag vegetables. It strikes me as mysteriously awesome how the sauce will "cook" the noodles to perfection without crispy ends, but I am not arguing or questioning. I love these noodles, and they have made creating a luscious lasagna so much more approachable and appealing.

What you need (5 *big* servings):

2 large (or 3 small) boneless/skinless chicken breasts
dried herbs (parsley, oregano, sage - all good choices for this) & red pepper flakes
garlic-infused olive oil (or regular olive oil with a few shakes of garlic powder or freshly-chopped garlic cloves added to it)
no-boil lasagna noodles
bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
reduced fat alfredo sauce (1 tiny little jar does the job with extra to spare)
1 small container ricotta
one bag of leafy green spinach
1 small onion, chopped
S & P

How you get it done:

I start my marinating the chicken breasts for a few minutes in a mixture of dried herbs (oregano, parsley, sage) and garlic-infused olive oil. I then place them in cooking dish inside a 400-degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. The smell of the garlic-herb chicken perfumes the house in the warmest way, I'm tellin' ya. If I could capture that smell and have it infuse the house as I walk through the door from work every night, I'd be a happy(ier) lady! It really smelled like Paula Deen stepped on into this home and whipped up a little Southern roasted chicken . . .

Take the chicken out of the oven, and set aside to cool. Next, saute your spinach leaves in a medium heat pan on the stovetop. I have finally mastered this technique after eating alot of my own too-cooked, too-salty, too-herby spinach. All you need for the most perfectly sauteed spinach is a little S & P, a SMALL drizzle of olive oil, and a light sprinkling of red pepper flakes. (I have also added either dried cranberries, walnuts, slivered almonds, or red grapes to my spinach while it's cooking away, and this makes for a delightful texture surprise. But, for tonight's dish, it's just olive oil, red pepper flakes, S & P). Only allot yourself about 5 minutes to cook the spinach, start to finish - 5 minutes gets the job done. And, important tidbit - don't forget to toss your leaves a few times while cooking to prevent burning.

Then, mix together a small container of ricotta, one egg, 1 small chopped onion, and S & P in a bowl. The egg acts like a binder or a glue for the ricotta so that it doesn't just fall away in between the noodles. Now you are ready to cut up the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Place all of your ingredients -- the bowl of ricotta, the bag of mozzarella, the noodles, jar of alfredo, the pan of sauteed spinach, and the chicken close together on the countertop, all lined up and lookin' good. Now, you are ready to assemble your lasagna.

1. Pour a little sauce on the bottom of the pan (I also sprayed the pan with non-stick cooking spray just to make sure each piece would scoop up smoothly and beautifully).
2. Place 4 noodles side by side, overlapping a little.
3. Scoop a few spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles.
4. Scatter the chicken pieces on top of the ricotta.
5. Nestle little dollops of spinach around the chicken.
6. Add a palmful or so of shredded mozzarella.
7. Repeat steps 1-6. Have some wine. Enjoy the process.
8. Cover with foil (loosely, or your first layer will come off with the foil. I know this because it happened last night, oops. A foil "tent" will work well, note to self). Bake in a 375-degree oven for about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes until bubbly on top. Let cool for awhile (have more wine) to allow the ingredients to rest and settle among each other.

You will want to dive into this lasagna, it's SO GOOD.