Chicken & Spinach Lasagne

This is one of our most popular frozen meals, rivalling my classic beef and mozzarella lasagne for top spot. I often refer to this as a white lasagne, as it doesn’t have a traditional tomato base, which makes it lighter and creamier than its richer beef cousin. A firm family favourite.

Makes: 6 serves
Takes: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed 100g butter
100g flour
1 litre milk
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1 cup cooked spinach leaves, drained well
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup Parmesan
2 lemons, zest & juice
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp ground coriander
200g fresh lasagne sheets
2 cups mozzarella, grated
Salt & pepper

Method: Preheat your oven to 180°C. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 3–4 minutes until translucent, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

To make the béchamel sauce, melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan. Add flour and stir briskly for 1 minute until a paste has formed and the flour is starting to cook off. Gradually add the milk, stirring thoroughly until you have a thick sauce. Add nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, spinach, cottage cheese, Parmesan, lemon zest and juice, fennel seeds, chilli and coriander. Add cooked onions and mix well. Mix half of the béchamel sauce through the chicken mixture.

Spread half a cup of reserved béchamel sauce over the base of a baking dish. Cover with a quarter of the pasta, cutting the sheets to fit if necessary. Spread 1 cup of the chicken mixture over the pasta, then cover with another quarter of the pasta. Repeat until the chicken mix and pasta has been used up, finishing with a layer of pasta. Spoon the remaining béchamel sauce over the final layer of pasta, and sprinkle evenly with mozzarella.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is brown and bubbling. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving.