Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Lasagne Rolls

Lasagne has always been one of our family favourites and after looking through many magazines I and found this lovely recipe in clean eating magazine.

I like the idea of turning ordinary lasagne sheets into a rustic cannelloni style dish.  This dish had some basics from the classic dishes with spinach, white sauce and ricotta.

So into the kitchen, I went, having had a good read of the recipe I decided to add some simple ingredients such as onions, garlic and mushrooms.  I believe these few extra ingredients added a little more body to the dish.

When making the rolls and building the dish, there was a little sense of achievement as you can almost visualise and even taste how it will be.

We were most definitely not disappointed.  Served with some garlic bread and a little side salad the dish was truly magical.

Cutting through the creamy sauce and opening to a vibrant red of the tomatoes and flourish of green spinach.  The taste has this explosion of sweet, earthy cheese of the parmesan, melting zing of the lemon in the white sauce and then a myriad of sweet, earthy and meaty filling of the lasagne rolls.

And there it was our family cheered round the dinner table by this wondrous dish creating little hums of satisfaction from our kids and delight from my wife and me.

Come and try it, tell me what you think.

Print Recipe

Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Lasagne Rolls

Beautiful creamy chicken, spinach and mushroom lasagne rolls. A sublime alternative to some Italian classics.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 400 g chicken breasts thinly sliced
• 240 g Fresh spinach leaves thick stalks removed and roughly chopped
• 6 Medium tomatoes diced
• 1 Onion finely diced
• 2 Garlic cloves crushed
• 1 tbsp. tomato puree
• 100 g Button mushrooms thinly sliced
• 8 Lasagne sheets
• 250 g Ricotta cheese

White Sauce

• 50 g Butter
• 5 tbsp. Plain Flour
• 600 ml milk
• 1 lemon zest and juice of
• 50 g Fresh parmesan finely grated

Instructions

• First melt the butter in a medium sized pan over a medium heat. Add the flour and stir until combined and continue to stir for a minute. Slowly add the milk a little at a time and stir or whisk until you have a nice sauce consistency. Simmer for 2-3 minutes of which it will thicken slightly more and cook out the flour.
• Once cooked add the spinach and simmer gently until the spinach has wilted into the sauce and then add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Season and place to the side with a lid on top to prevent a skin forming.
• Pre- Heat the oven to 180C and bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add a pinch of salt and oil to the water. Once boiling, cook the lasagna sheets as per the packets direction. Place in one a time to prevent them all sticking together. When they are cooked run the pan under cold water or place the lasagne in to a bowl of iced water to stop the cooking process.
• In a large frying pan heat, a tbsp. of olive oil over a medium to high heat and fry the chicken until browned, add the onions and fry for a further minute. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook for about three minutes more until the mushrooms are cooked and softened.
• After this add the tomatoes and spinach and gently cook until the spinach has wilted and tomatoes have softened. Spoon in the tomato puree and cook for a further minute. Season with a little salt and pepper.
• To build lightly oil a 9 x 9 inch baking dish. Lay out the lasagne sheets and spread a tbsp. of the ricotta cheese on each sheet. Place 1/8 of the chicken mix in the middle of the lasagne sheet and then roll up. Place in to the baking dish with the seal side down and repeat until all lasagne rolls are made.
• Cover the lasagne with the white sauce made earlier and then sprinkle liberally with the parmesan.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Notes

This can be made up to a day in advance.  To cook from chilled cook for 35 – 40 minutes until golden and bubbling.

This recipe was adapted from a similar recipe in March 2016’s clean eating magazine.