Okie dokie, so I've had this recipe for probably several years, but have never made it. In fact, I'd never really even looked at it that closely until this week. Well, I discovered it lacked greatly in pretty much every conceivable way... so I fixed it up!
This week it's another Sarah Original!!
(Sorry for the lack of pictures, they just weren't up to my standards this time.)
Ok, first we need to cook the chicken. To be honest, I don't know exactly how long I cook chicken when I boil it. I took 3 thawed chicken breasts, put them in a large pot with enough water to cover them and put them on the stove to boil. I probably boil them for about 7 - 8 minutes before pulling one out, cutting it in half to see how done it is (usually still raw in the center) and then putting it back in the pot for another 8 or so minutes. I know its not very cool to say that I cook them until I "feel" they should be done... but its what I do. Sorry!
After the chicken is done, set it aside to cool long enough to be able to handle. To shred the chicken, I'll put one breast at a time in a medium sized bowl and pull it apart with two forks. This is a thankless process but looks SO much better than chopped chicken.
Onto the noodles! Cooking them is simple; just follow the directions on the box! Try to cook them in a dutch oven or wide, shallow pot so that the noodles can stay flat.
While the noodles are cooking, mix the following together: egg, chicken, ricotta, 3/4 cup of mozzarella, 2 Tbsps of Parmesan, thyme, basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.
Go ahead and prep your baking dish too. Take 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce and cover the bottom of the dish. And preheat the oven to 375°F.
After the noodles are done cooking, I used a pair of tongs to gently pull them out one by one and laid them out on a large plate.
Next, I put out a sheet of parchment paper to make the rolls on so the noodles wouldn't stick to the counter. Then I laid out one noodle and spread a good layer of the chicken/cheese mixture onto it.
After you've got all the rolls made and in the dish, evenly spread the remaining sauce over the lasagna rolls and sprinkle half of the remaining mozzarella on top of sauce.
Cover the dish with foil (I tented the foil so my cheese wouldn't all come off when I removed it later) and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven.
Time to take the foil off! Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and a bit of freshly cracked black pepper on top and bake uncovered for another 8 -12 minutes or until golden brown.
Be careful not to cook too long uncovered or the exposed parts of the noodles will become hard and crunchy.
Here's the final product! Serve with a romaine salad or asparagus, if in season. (I'm so angry I can't find good asparagus in the winter!!) Enjoy!
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Chicken Lasagna Rolls
Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3 cups spaghetti sauce
8 - 10 lasagna noodles
1 egg
15 oz. Ricotta cheese
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced thyme
1 tablespoon minced basil
1 tablespoon minced sun-dried tomatoes (optional)
Salt and pepper
Instructions:
Cook chicken. Let cool and then shred using two forks to pull the meat apart. Set aside.
Cook noodles in boiling salted water until al dente - do not over cook as they will be going into the oven and cooking again for the final dish.
Mix ricotta, ¾ cup of mozzarella, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, egg, chicken, spices, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in small bowl.
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Evenly spread 1/3 of sauce on bottom of the baking dish. Spread about 2 tablespoons of ricotta mixture over each lasagna noodle. Carefully roll up, placing seam side down in baking dish, on top of sauce.
Evenly spread remaining sauce over lasagna rolls.
Sprinkle the half of the remaining mozzarella top of sauce. Cover in foil and bake for 40 minutes or until it bubbles. Remove from oven.
Top with remaining mozzarella and a bit of freshly cracked black pepper and bake uncovered 5 - 10 minutes or until browned.
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