101 Uses for a Roasted Chicken #5: Chicken, Spinach and Mushroom Lasagne

After recovering from my lasagne-making phobia, I seem to be plotting my next lasagnes on a regular basis. It's just so easy and satisfying to make a pan of this stuff, and the oven-ready noodles are a God-send. Usually, I make my own pasta sauce, but once in a while, buying one is perfectly acceptable to me, especially if I want to make a lasagne quickly and with even less fuss. This chicken version is awesome.

You will need, for a 9x13-inch pan (lined with parchment paper for ease of both serving and clean-up; or line pan with foil and spray liberally with cooking spray):

both breasts from 1 roasted chicken, skinned and diced or shredded
1 large tub (500g) 1% cottage cheese
1 egg
1 tsp each oregano and basil
3 cloves garlic, crushed, finely chopped or grated
1 bunch spinach, washed, dried and coarsely chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3 cups pasta sauce, your choice (I used Ragu because it was on sale; it was fine)
2 cups part skim mozzarella cheese, grated
approx. 15 oven-ready lasagne noodles

Assembly: the golden rule with lasagne and oven-ready noodles: sauce, noodles, sauce.

So, here is how to assemble this version: 3/4 cup sauce, noodles (3 length-wise, one broken in half at the width end), sauce, spinach & mushrooms, noodles again as previous, sauce, cottage cheese mixture (mix cottage cheese with the egg, chicken, oregano, basil, and garlic), noodles again, the rest of the sauce, mozzarella cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 400F for 30 minutes. Stab it in the middle with a knife and see if the noodles are pretty much softened, and, if so, remove the foil and continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until a deep golden brown.

When it's done, let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving. This gives your lasagne a chance to sort of "tighten up" and absorb any extra cooking liquids. It'll be much easier to serve and less soupy.

Nutritional info here.