Chicken Lasagna

I am not one to eat lasagna....I just don't like the taste of the ground beef (I guess I just prefer to eat ground beef if it's seasoned with mexican spices - chili powder, cumin, red pepper...etc). My mom has a good recipe for a chicken florentine lasagna that I make sometimes, but I wanted something with Marinara....so here you go!

Ingredients:

Chicken Mixture:

• 1 lb chicken - cooked and shredded
• 1/2 red pepper - diced
• 1/2 yellow pepper - diced
• 1/2 onion - diced
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves - chopped
• 3 tsp. minced garlic ( or 3 cloves)

Ricotta Cheese Mixture:

• 32 oz Ricotta Cheese
• 5-6 fresh basil leaves - chopped
• 1/2 cup parmesan-romano cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Other Ingredients:

• 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles - cooked according to package
• 1 bag shredded mozzarella
• 1 Jar Tomato & Basil Sauce
• pinch of oregano and basil to top lasagna prior to cooking

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375
• Cook chicken and pasta 

• Once chicken is cooked - shred, and mix in a bowl with peppers, onion, oregano, garlic, and basil

• In another medium bowl, mix ricotta cheese, basil, oregano, nutmeg, egg, parm cheese, salt and pepper - until well combined

• In a 9x13 glass dish - put just enough tomato & basil sauce in the bottom to cover the dish

• Lay 3 lasagna noodles down

• Top with layer of ricotta cheese mixture

• Top next with chicken mixture

• Pour some mozzarella cheese next

• Top with some spoonfuls of sauce

• Layer with 3 more lasagna noodles and repeat the layers.
• After you lay the final 3 lasagna noodles - top with sauce and the rest of your mozzarella cheese, some parm cheese, a pinch of oregano, and basil. 

• Cover and cook for about 40 minutes
• Let sit for 10-15 minutes after removing from oven before cutting.

• ENJOY!

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

Sorry I have been MIA lately - I have about 6 updates that I am going to try to get done today. As most of you know, Jeremy is slightly obsessed with ALL things Buffalo. So we decided to mix up our enchiladas (or burritos...since we use flour tortillas). It's easy and all you really have to do is add some wing sauce to your enchilada sauce (to your 'heat' liking of course). But here is my recipe, just incase!

Ingredients:

• 6 large flour tortillas
• About 1 lb (3 breasts) cooked chicken - shredded
• 28 oz red enchilada sauce
• 1/2 cup wing sauce (less if you don't want it too hot)
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 - 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup shredded habenero cheese (or you could use crumbled bleu cheese - I just don't like bleu cheese)

Steps:

• cook and shred chicken

• preheat oven to 375
• pour enchilada sauce into a medium bowl and start whisking in wing sauce. Start with a small amount at a time, and taste to make sure it's not too hot for your liking. We used 1/2 cup and ours was pretty hot, but we also used pepper jack and habenero cheese.

• In another bowl, add shredded chicken, onion, and 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese. Mix in 1/2 cup enchilada/wing sauce mixture. Stir until well mixed - cheese will start to melt.

• Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray, then pour a small amount of wing sauce into the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.

• Take tortilla, fill with a several spoonfuls of chicken mixture, roll up tortilla and place seam side down into the pan.

• Continue this step until all tortillas are filled with chicken mixture and in the pan. (mine only made 5 enchiladas....but I probably overfilled mine. if you can fit 6-8 into your pan, make 6-8....just divide your mixture more evenly)

• Top enchiladas with 1/2 cup - 1 cup of the enchilada sauce/wing sauce mixture. I just poured the sauce on the top until all of the tortillas were covered.

• Top with the remainder of your pepper jack cheese- and we added our habenero cheese at this time. (if you use bleu cheese crumbles, wait to add this after you have baked the enchiladas)

• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-25 minutes
• Once removed, add your cilantro and any extra onions you may have (and bleu cheese if you choose)

• If you have left over sauce - store it in the fridge - use it for leftovers or if you plan on making enchiladas again in the next week or 2.  

• Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Shredded Chicken in a White Cream Sauce

I found this sweet potato gnocchi at World Market (yes....I cheated a little and didn't make homemade gnocchi - maybe when I have more time) - but this gnocchi was still delicious - a little sweet. Jeremy loved it - and well - he is the only judge of my food other than me, so his thoughts are important to me. I found the recipe for the sauce on The Barefoot Kitchen Witch, added chicken and changed the amounts of a few things.  It was my first time using fresh fennel....and I was impressed. 

Ingredients:

• 1 package of sweet potato gnocchi (or you could make your own - see link above)
• 1 lb chicken
• 1 can chicken broth (for boiling the chicken)
• 1/4 cup sliced fennel
• 1 tsp. minced shallot (I used about 1/2 shallot bulb)
• 1/4 cup sliced white onion
• 1/2 cup sliced roasted red pepper

• 3 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 cup cooking white wine
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp fresh basil (I forgot this - so I used dried basil)
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 tbsp. grated romano cheese
• Handful of baby spinach
• salt and pepper

Steps:

• Boil chicken in 1 part chicken broth, 1 part water for about 45 min to 1 hour

• Cook gnocchi according to package, and drain

• In skillet - heat oil over medium heat
• Add onion, fennel and red pepper and saute for 2-3 minutes

• Add garlic and shallots - cook for 1 minute

• Add white wine, basil and brown sugar

• Add cream and reduce by 1/3

• Add butter, salt and pepper - cook, stirring occasionally until butter is melted

• Add in cooked chicken - stir

• Add cooked gnocchi and spinach

• Add romano cheese

• Stir occasionally, cooking until the thickness of your liking (only a few minutes, I turned the stove down to low during the end)

• I served mine with a little garlic bread - it was very filling - no need for lots of other sides.

• We loved it - it will definitely be made again! (and I am sure it would be good with regular gnocchi)