PASTA FORMAGGIO WITH GRILLED CHICKEN AND FRESH SPINACH
Yes I know...Not exactly a low fat way to start the new year! But for me when life gets tough, I play in the kitchen! Some friends took us to Olive Garden recently for our Christmas gift, and one of them had a very yummy looking dish. Of course I didn't taste it, but I tried to "study" it as much as I could. This is what I came up with...and how I did it...
I took two chicken breasts that I had previously grilled on my George Foreman and had frozen. I cut them in thin slices and set aside.
Into a sauce pan I put 2 cups of heavy cream, 2 T. grated Asiago Cheese, 2 T. grated LeGruyee Cheese, and 2 T. grated Parmesan Cheese, 1 T. flour, 1 tsp. garlic salt. I stirred this while cooking on low heat until the cheeses melted and the flour made the mixture a little bit thick.
Still keeping the heat low, I then added 2-3 ozs. of fresh baby spinach...
and the grilled chicken...and I turned the heat off...
In another pan I had boiled lasagne noodles, about 1/2 a box...
After draining the noodles, I put them into a casserole dish...and poured the sauce mixture on and carefully stirred it up so all the noodles were covered...
As if there wasn't already enough cheese in this dish, I topped the whole thing with grated Mozzerella...
and baked it at 350℉ for about 30 minutes until the Mozzerella melted...
and I garnished it with some more spinach leaves. If we had any good tomatoes I would have chopped some and added that as a garnish as well to make it look prettier. And if I had any fresh mushrooms in the house, I probably would have added some to the sauce.
This only took a few minutes to prepare for the oven. I hope you'll try it. Tell me if you do!
