In celebration of the first snow flurries in our area last week, I present my new favorite recipe – White Lasagna. This is from my friend, Claire, mentor and inspiration in all things nourishing. It’s a great freezer meal (double it and make one for dinner and one for the freezer!). It’s a great company meal. It’s totally crave-able. And nutritious. And my kids like it. Ok, I’ve said enough – here’s the recipe.
Claire’s Garlic White Lasagna
Brown together and drain,
1 Lb. sausage
1 Lb. chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 onion
1 Tbsp. Cajun Seasoning
Set meat aside and make the sauce:
Melt in a sauce pot
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
Add
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
In a quart jar, mix
3 cups milk
6 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
Shake to mix, then gradually add to your butter and garlic, stirring occasionally until thickened. Finally, add
1 c. Parmesan cheese
Cook your lasagna noodles al-dante (just a bit chewy) – this makes them easier to work with as you make the layers – they will get completely done when you reheat the finished casserole.
This is a good place to sneak in some veggies like spinach or swiss chard – just steam them lightly and chop them fine. Some sauteed mushrooms would be yummy, too.
Layer your ingredients as follows:
Noodles, Meat, Veggies, Sauce, and then Noodles again. I try to divide my ingredients so I get three layers built. Finish with Noodles and then some more Sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350 until heated through.
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| The swiss chard added such lovely color to this dish! |
Notes:
-I use rice pasta, as it is easier to digest. That and the arrowroot powder make this dish gluten free! If you don’t care about that, you can use any lasagna noodles, and below is my regular recipe for Alfredo sauce, which uses flour instead of arrowroot for thickening.
-The Tablespoon each of Cajun and Italian seasonings is what gives this dish it’s full, sophisticated flavor. Don’t skip it!
-You CAN use leftover chicken and already cooked sausage in this recipe! I did that once – just sauted the onion in a bit of olive oil, then added the meat and spices when the onion was almost done, and cooked it together long enough to let the flavors blend nicely. It was just as tasty as the original recipe.
Holden’s Alfredo Sauce
Melt
3 Tbsp. butter
in a saucepan over medium heat. Add
4 cloves garlic
and saute one minute. Stir in
1/4 c. flour and stir until bubbly. Gradually add
3-4 cups milk, stirring with whisk until blended.
Cook, stirring constantly, 8 min. or until thick and bubbly. Then add
4 Tbsp. cream cheese. Cook 2 min. and add
1 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, stirring constantly until cheese melts.
This is excellent served over fettuccine noodles with sauted veggies and meat, garnished with parsley and more Parmesan.
This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday over at The Nourishing Gourmet!
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