White Chicken Lasagna

I tried a new meal this week. This came from "Don't Panic - More Dinner's in the Freezer".


½ cup butter, melted
½ cup flour
1 t. salt
¼ t. black pepper
1 t. dried basil
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken, diced
8 oz. lasagna noodles
2 cups cottage cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
5 oz. frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained
½ lb mozzarella, thinly sliced
8 oz fresh parmesan cheese, grated

Directions: Melt butter in a large saucepan; blend in flour, salt, pepper, and basil. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat and add chicken. Cook and drain noodles according to package directions. Mix cottage cheese with beaten egg and spinach; set aside.
Place 1/3 of the chicken mixture into a lined (or disposable) 9X13 baking dish. Top with half the noodles, half the cottage cheese mixture, and half the mozzarella. Repeat. Top with the last third of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Freeze.
To serve: (If not already in one, place in 9x13 dish.) Thaw completely. Bake 45 minutes at 375 degrees until bubbly. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes: I used bottled chicken, which made it a little less exciting for me. I also wanted a bit more flavor so I upped the salt (from ¾ t) and doubled the basil in this version. I think because the bottled chicken wasn’t cooked with seasonings, it caused that flavor to overwhelm the sauce. Maybe it needed to simmer in the sauce a bit. I also halved the spinach to reduce the amount of gagging from my family. :P Perhaps you can get away with more. Not a “to die for” meal, but good. And it adds some fun variety to the standard pastas I do.