Chicken, Spinach and Squash Lasagne

heatherldietrich

I had a squash, but wanted lasagne, so made a nice, healthy version instead. It came out wonderfully! It's very tasty and everyone at work was drooling over it at lunch and wanted the recipe. Since I was typing it up anyway, I thought I would share it with you guys as well!

1 Acorn or Butternut squash
8-9oz Chicken breast (2 average breasts) cubed small
1 cup Skim (non-fat) milk
½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbl Flour
1 Onion, chopped
1 pkg Frozen spinach (approx 2 cups), thawed and drained
8 Lasagne noodles
1 tbl Extra virgin olive oil
2-3 clove garlic, minced
2 tbl Butter/margarine, separated

1. Bake squash until done, peel, mash lightly (I like it a little chunky). Add 1 tbl butter/margarine, season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Cook lasagne noodles according to package directions. You can use the ready bake ones if you prefer, but I like the texture of the cooked noodles better.
3. Sauté onions and olive oil a few minutes until soft, add ½ the garlic, all the chicken and cook until browned, add spinach and stir until mixed and heated. Season to taste – I use a little salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
4. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tbl butter/margarine until sizzling, add the rest of the garlic, 1 tbl flour and whisk until well combined – approx 30 seconds (don’t let the garlic burn). Add milk, slowly, continuing to whisk. Turn to med heat and allow to come to a low boil (keep whisking!) – don’t let it boil too hard or it will scorch. Sauce will thicken in approx 2-3 minutes. Add parmesan cheese and cook a minute or so longer. If sauce becomes too thick add a splash of milk or water to thin. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
5. Heat oven to 400F. Oil lasagne pan lightly. Layer with ½ the squash mix, a layer of noodles, the spinach and chicken layer topped with half of the white sauce, then another layer of noodles, the rest of the squash, one more of noodles and then top with the rest of the white sauce. Place in the oven and bake until sauce layer is golden brown – approx 40-50 minutes. Serves 6.

Per serving:

Calories 322
Carbs 39
Fat 9
Protein 18
Fiber 2
Sugar 5

cherylaclark

sounds good, thanks!

chubby_checkers

i'm going to try it this weekend. thanks!

FriskyD

What a great combination -- I love squash and spinach, and the chicken must make it lower in calories than using beef. How big a pan do you use, and what do you consider a serving? As in, how many servings, about, per pan? Do you do it in glass or metal? (I typically use glass, but it depends on how the lasagne noodles fit...)

Thanks for passing this on! :drinker:

CMmrsfloyd

Sounds yummy - I'd also like to know what size pan you used. :-)

heatherldietrich

Definitely lower in calories than beef, but I'm not sure beef would be a good fit with this recipe anyway. I'd stick to chicken if you're going to add a protein. It would be great vegetarian as well.

The pan is a standard size you would use for lasagna - 8" x 13", I believe, cut into six servings - usually I would cut it into eight for a regular lasagna. They're a nice, big portion, but also nice and low cal. My pan is a glass pan.

GrammyWhammy

Bump. Thanks, sounds yummy.