Chicken and Spinach Lasagna

  It's been along time since I have made lasagna. For one it's a pain to make and two Jake's diet never allowed for it. Things have changed with the diet a bit, so I thought I would give it a try. I thought I would change it up a bit, but didn't think it would take over 2 hours to make. I found a recipe for one with white sauce and I liked that idea, but made some changes, like I always do. I had to make changes, because who would make a lasagna without garlic and proper seasonings?  I didn't however read through it all the way, seeing that the cook time was suppose to be an hour. Oh well, so dinner was later than usual.

  Prep took a while, I took 2 bags of fresh spinach, took the stems off and cut into smaller pieces. I then chopped 1 small yellow onion, 4 cloves of garlic, and chopped 8 mini sweet peppers. I forgot I cut 6 skinless, boneless, chicken breast strips into cubes.

  To cook: First start a long deep pot filled with water to boil. I heated 1 tbs. olive oil in a deep skillet, when the oil was hot I added the chicken, cook until done, then remove to a plate, then add 1 tbs olive oil, the onion, the sweet peppers, and 2 teaspoons of salt, cook until the onion is translucent. Then, by handfuls add the spinach, one handful at a time, until all the spinach is wilted, I added the garlic at this time. When all the spinach is cooked, remove to a bowl lined with paper towels. Press out the extra water. Next, add 4 tbs butter to the deep skillet, add 1/4 cup flour, whisk until the flour and butter are well combined and brown, then add 1 quart of milk, continuously whisking until the milk comes to a boil and the mixture thickens, I then added 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg, 1 tsp. dried thyme, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes. Remove from heat and add 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Don't forget to cook your lasagna noodles (like I did). Take a deep baking dish, place a layer of the sauce, then a layer of the white sauce, a layer of the spinach mixture, a layer of the chicken, and finally a layer of shredded mozarella cheese. Keep repeating the layers until you use everything. Top with leftover sauce, spinach, chicken, mozarella, and romano cheese. Cover it with foil, place in a 450 degree oven (the recipe said the place in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for 15 minutes, remove from oven and set for 20 minutes) for 15 minutes, remove the foil cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes and enjoy!