Peppercorn Lasagna with Chicken, Spinach, and Mushrooms

This past weekend I went to the Soulard Farmers Market.  It was amazing!  It had endless rows of stands with anything from fruits & vegetables to fresh pasta to live geese.  The prices were also very affordable and significantly less expensive than the Tower Grove Farmers Market.  However, I later found out that unless that stand is labeled "organic", it is the leftover vegetables from the local grocery stores that didn't sell that week.  Although this seems terrible, there were wonderful organic stands spread through the market.  My favorite find was a pasta stand that sold a wide assortment of unique flavors... anything from chocolate to lemon garlic to spicy Thai.  The best part was you get a recipe with each 1/2 lb or 1 lb of dried pasta you buy. As part of this blog, I am going to try out a couple different kinds of pasta a month (and yes, this includes the chocolate one that I was a bit scared of)!  The first recipe will be cooking with the Peppercorn Trio Lasagna pasta. 

 

Peppercorn Lasagna with Chicken, Spinach, and Mushrooms
Source:  Pappardelle's, The Fine Art of Pasta , http://www.pappardellesonline.com
Serves: 8 (unless you are feeding Moe then you are only going to get six out of this dish)

1 bag of Pappardella's Peppercorn Tri Lasagna Noodles
1 10 oz block of frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon of butter
2 small chicken breasts (approximately 1/2 lb total), diced into small cubes
8 oz portabella mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup of onion, finely chopped1 8 oz container of low fat sour cream
1/4 block of sour cream1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (split into 1/ and 3/4 increments)
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add lasagna noodles and cook for 6 minutes.  Drain spinach with a strainer and press out excess water.  Chop the mushrooms and onions.

In a large skillet, heat up butter.  Add chicken and saute for three minutes*.  Add mushrooms and onions to skillet.  Saute for 8 minutes.  Turn off heat and stir in mushroom soup, cream cheese, spinach, salt and pepper.  Once mixed, toss in 3/4 a cup of cheddar cheese. 

Spray lasagna pan with olive oil spray or pam.  Spoon 1/4 of chicken mixture in the bottom of the dish and spread evenly.  Arrange a layer of noodles on top of mixture.  Repeat this process for two more layers.  Add remaining 1/4 of chicken mixture to the top.  Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese on the top.  Cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of lasagna.  Bake uncovered for 15 minutes more or until heated through. 

Ratings:
Moe, 8 out of 10 (Moe is a traditional lasagna guy.  He loved this dish but refuses to give it higher than an 8
because it was a "white" lasagna and not a "red" lasagna.
Miss J, 10 out of 10 (I loved it!)

*Note: I am always pressed for time on a work night so I decided to prepare this meal a couple nights before.  I baked the chicken at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  I then allowed it to cool and diced it into small cubes.  I also drained the spinach and mixed it in with the soup, cream cheese, and sour cream.  That way all I had to do was add that mixture to the mushrooms and onion and toss in the chicken and I was ready to go once the noddles were cooked.  I also added a tiny bit of half and half to the lasagna pan while it was cooking to avoid the noodles on the edges from drying out.
- Miss J