Lasagna Cacciatore

Lasagna Cacciatore

Serves: 12   Cooking Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, fat trimmed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 onions, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, minced
10 fresh white mushrooms, trimmed/thinly sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, minced
1 pkg. dried lasagna noodles (18)
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 recipe egg pasta or spinach pasta

Instructions

1.Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add chicken, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat until browned, about 6 minutes.

2.Turn chicken, sprinkle again with salt and pepper, and cook until fully cooked, about 5 minutes more. Remove chicken from pan.

3.When cool, shred chicken and set aside.

4.Add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to pan along with onions. Sauté until onions are wilted and beginning to caramelize, about 10 minutes.

5.Stir in garlic and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes more.

6.Add red pepper and sauté for 2 minutes.

7.Stir in tomatoes, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Add chicken and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

8.Cook and drain pasta.

9.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, unless planning to freeze lasagna for baking at a later date.

10.Grease a 13x9-inch lasagna pan. Smear several tablespoons of tomato sauce (without large chunks of chicken or vegetables) across bottom.

11.Line bottom with a layer of pasta, making sure noodles touch but do not overlap.

12.Spread 1 cup sauce over pasta and sprinkle with 2/3 cup cheese.
13.Repeat layering of pasta, sauce , and cheese four more times.

14.For the sixth layer, sprinkle remaining 1 cup cheese over noodles.

15.Bake for 20 minutes. At this point this recipe may be frozen. Cool before freezing.

16.To serve from frozen, defrost overnight in the refrigerator, prior to baking.

17.Bake lasagna until cheese turns golden brown in spots and sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes.

18.Remove pan from oven, let lasagna settle for 5 minutes and serve immediately.