Chicken and mushroom lasagna

By Pete Houston

Serves: 4 – 6

Time: 95 minutes

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
3 portobello mushrooms, thickly sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
3 dried bay leaves
⅛ tsp salt or to taste
¼ tsp black pepper or to taste
50g butter
150ml chicken stock
3 tbsp plain flour
300ml milk
100g fresh spinach washed and ready to eat
2 tsp dried tarragon
150g cheddar cheese, grated
9 dried lasagna sheets

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C fan. Arrange the chicken breasts on a piece of foil large enough to cover the baking dish. Place a thick slice of butter (around 15g) on each breast, then dust with oregano, salt and freshly ground black pepper, and place 3 bay leaves on top of each. Bring the edges of the foil together and seal to form a parcel. The top of the foil should not touch the chicken. Pop it on a baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes, opening the foil after 20. While the chicken is cooking, fry the mushroom slices in batches in a little butter over a medium heat, turning once. Remove from the pan when golden and continue until all the mushrooms are cooked.
Time: 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the foil and leave to rest. pour the buttery liquid that remains into a saucepan and simmer until most of the non-fat has evaporated. Turn the heat down to minimum and add the garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes and add more butter if required. Then stir in the flour to make a thick roux. Gradually add the milk and then the stock until you have a thick but pourable sauce the consistency of double cream. Season, add the taragon and most of the cheddar cheese and stir until well combined. Use some more milk if the sauce is too thick.
Time: 15 minutes.
Grease the lasagna dish with butter. Slice the roast chicken into 3-4mm slices. Pour in a couple of tablespoons of the sauce and spread it out over the base. Lay 3 sheets of lasagna over. Then layer in half the chicken and half the mushrooms. Cover with sauce and half the spinach. Repeat with more lasagna, the rest of the chicken and mushrooms, more sauce (keeping a little back) and the remaining spinach. Place the last 3 lasanga sheets on top, cover well with the last of the sauce and scatter over the remaining cheese.
Time: 5 minutes.
Cover the dish with the reserved foil and cook in the over for about 35 minutes. Then remove the foil and increase the temperature to 200°C fan and cook for another 7 to 10 minutes until the top is golden. Cut into squares and serve.
Time: 45 minutes.

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