Smoked Chicken Lasagna

This is a great change from traditional lasagna. It is rich and bursting with the smoke flavor of the chicken. You can make the sauce that I suggest here: it is easy enough: or again you can cheat and use a commercial product.

At home we smoke our own chicken breasts over hickory chips on the BBQ: if you have a smoker that will work great. Do not overcook the breasts as they will get tough and chewy. You can find smoked chicken in the meat or deli departments of better grocery stores.

SAUCE:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup chopped celery leaves

8 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced

1/4 cup Pinot Noir or red wine

1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (in oil)

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic & celery leaves & cook @ 3minutes more. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer until very soft, 10-15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 1/2 hour. Set aside.

LASAGNA:

6 sheets fresh pasta, cooked in boiling water until just soft but still resilient: or cooked dried lasagna noodles to fit a 9X12 baking pan

olive oil, as needed

1/2 pound portobello or white mushrooms, sliced

2 bunches fresh spinach, stemmed

1 pound smoked chicken breast meat, thinly sliced

1 1/2 pounds fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350*F. Saute the mushrooms in @ 1 tablespoon olive oil until soft. Set aside.

Oil a 9X12 inch baking pan. Spread a layer of sauce evenly over the bottom oft he pan. Set a ayer of lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, then cover with more sauce. Tops with layers of spinach, chicken, mushrooms and sliced cheese. Top with a layer of sauce, followed by a layer of pasta. Repeat the layers, finishing the top layer with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 1 hour or until the sauce is bubbling & hot.

Enjoy with a great Syrah!