Chicken Lasagna Alfredo

If I surveyed all of the folks who have shared my table throughout the years about their favorite dishes, I think Chicken Lasagna Alfredo from Pampered Chef’s Celebrate! may come out on top. The blend of flavors is just *amazing* – I think the artichoke, red pepper, and feta really make the dish. Leftovers are rare with this one!

Normally, one would start out by boiling 10 lasagna noodles. I always use no-boil lasagna, though, so I was able to skip this step. In a small bowl, I whisked together 1 jar (16 ounces) of Alfredo sauce, 1/4 cup of milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of oregano and then set the mixture aside.

The recipe calls for 3 cups of coarsely chopped cooked chicken; this is equivalent to about 1 1/2 pounds of raw chicken breast. I always poach (boil) mine, but you could cook it any way you like. After I chopped the cooked chicken with a large knife, I used my food chopper to chop 1 can (14 ounces) of artichoke hearts (drained), 1 red bell pepper (for 1/2 cup), and 1 small onion (for 1/4 cup). I put the chicken, artichoke hearts, bell pepper, and onion in a large bowl. I used my garlic press to press 2 garlic cloves over the bowl (the recipe only calls for one, but I like garlic!), and then I added 3 cups of shredded mozzarella and 4 ounces of crumbled feta cheese. I stirred until everything was well mixed.

To assemble the lasagna, I spread 2/3 cup of the Alfredo sauce over the bottom of a 9 x 13 baker. I topped it with 4 no-boil noodles, overlapping slightly to fit. I scattered 1 cup of fresh baby spinach over the top of the noodles and topped that with half of the chicken mixture. I repeated the layers, starting with half of the remaining Alfredo sauce. After layering, I poured the rest of the Alfredo sauce over the top of the lasagna.

I covered my baking dish with aluminum foil and baked the lasagna at 375 F for 45 minutes. Then, I removed the foil and baked it for 15 minutes longer. I let the lasagna stand for 15 minutes (for easier serving), and then served it with broccoli and Italian bread.

This dish is incredible, truly. It’s actually relatively healthy, too, if you only have one piece, though I don’t believe I’ve ever had a gentleman guest not ask for seconds (or thirds!). The recipe makes 12 servings and will comfortably serve at least 6 people. I like to serve this with another pasta dish (spaghetti with meatballs, penne with vodka sauce, etc.) to mix things up a bit for larger parties.

TIPS: If you boil your lasagna noodles, you’ll use 10 noodles as the recipe directs. I’ve consistently found that 4 no-boil noodles (of various brands) will cover each layer in the lasagna with a slight overlap, so I only end up using 8 no-boil noodles. The one time I tried to use 5 no-boil noodles for each layer, I don’t think there was enough liquid to allow the noodles to reach a proper texture. Dr. O said things were a bit “chewy.” It really depends on the size of your no-boil noodles, though… They need to have a slight overlap. If you somehow end up with smaller noodles, use more.

Recipe link: Chicken Lasagna Alfredo

NOTE: The recipe poster doesn’t credit Pampered Chef, but this is *the* recipe, modified slightly. He upped the garlic from 1 clove to 3, added fresh basil, and left 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese for the top of the lasagna. E-mail me at sweetandsaucy.wordpress.com@gmail.com if you’d like a standard-format version of the original.