Pesto Chicken Lasagna
A delicious family meal of tender lasagna noodles, cheese and creamy béchamel loaded with pesto and cooked chicken. A comfort food casserole that will be a staple at your home.
Servings: 12 Servings
Ingredients
- 12 No boil lasagna noodles
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Bechamel Sauce:
- 3 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 Tablespoons oil
- 8 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ -¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 ¾ cup pesto sauce
- 3 cups cooked chicken shredded
Cheese layer:
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- ¼ -½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Make the béchamel layer:
- In a large pot over medium heat add butter, oil and wait for butter to melt.
- Add flour and cook until lightly yellow.
- Whisk in milk and broth, season mixture with salt and pepper.
- Keep cooking until it thickens.
- Set aside 2 ½ cups of the béchamel sauce and add the pesto to the remaining béchamel sauce.
- Mix in shredded chicken
Make the cheese layer:
- In a medium bowl whisk together ricotta, parmesan, egg, salt and pepper.
Assemble:
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking oil spray.
- Spread about ½ cup of the pesto béchamel sauce at the bottom of the casserole.
- Place three lasagna sheets on top of the sauce. Break about ¾ of a fourth one to cover the whole bottom. Put in any broken pieces too do not throw them away they will all cook and mend together no-one will notice the broken pieces.
- Add ½ of the cheese mixture, about 1 cup, spreading it over the noodles. Top with ½ of the pesto béchamel sauce about 2 cups.
- Sprinkle 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella on top.
- Repeat the layers of lasagna, the remaining cheese mixture followed by the remaining pesto béchamel then 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.
- For the final layer, add noodles then top with the béchamel sauce we already set aside then sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese on top.
- Cover and bake for 50 minutes.
- Remove cover and bake uncovered until top is golden brown, 10-15 minutes. You can also turn on the broiler to get a nice dark top but watch for it as it might burn easily.
- Let it rest for at least 20 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
- Resting the casserole after baking is crucial as it allows the noodles to absorb any extra liquids and for the layers to set.
- I like to cover my casserole with a piece of parchment paper followed by aluminum foil.
- Please check the nutrition disclaimer policy.