“There are fewer layers than a traditional lasagne,” chef Mary Berry said of her chicken lasagne. “But it’s still creamy and delicious.”
While Dame Berry is known for her extravagant bakes, when it comes to cooking meals, she likes to cut a few corners to save on time.
“I have cheated with the white sauce and made a creamy sauce for the filling instead,” Dame Berry admitted of her 40-minute recipe, which includes ready-made lasagne sheets.
The wholesome meal is ideal for large family gatherings, serving up to eight people, or leftovers can be eaten the next day for lunch.
All you need to start is an oven, an ovenproof dish, a frying pan, some oil, a small bowl, cutlery, and some seasoning of black pepper and salt.
Chicken spinach and tomato lasagne recipe
Serves: six to eight people
Ingredients:
- Six sheets of fresh lasagne
- 150g Cheddar, grated
To make the chicken, mushroom and spinach mixture
- Two tbsp olive oil
- 500g skinless and boneless chicken thighs, diced
- Half a red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- Two large garlic cloves, crushed
- 200g button mushrooms, sliced
- 200g baby spinach
- Two tsp cornflour
- 200g crème fraîche
Tomato and herb sauce
- One tbsp chopped flatleaf parsley
- One x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- Two tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
- One tbsp chopped thyme leaves
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6.
To make the chicken, mushroom and spinach mixture
2. Place the oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add the chicken pieces and fry quickly until golden but not cooked.
3. Add the chilli, garlic and mushrooms and fry for a few moments. Add the spinach and stir until wilted.
4. Measure the cornflour into a small bowl and stir in two tablespoons of water until smooth.
5. Add the crème fraîche and parsley to the pan with the chicken and stir. Pour in the cornflour mixture and stir until thickened. Set aside.
To make the tomato and herb sauce
6. Combine the tomatoes, sun-dried tomato paste and thyme in a bowl. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix well.
7. Soak the lasagne sheets in a shallow dish filled with boiling water for a few minutes until soft.
8. Spoon a third of the chicken mixture into the oven dish. Spoon a third of the tomato sauce over the chicken.
9. Arrange three lasagne sheets on top. Repeat the layers again. Finish with a final layer of chicken mixture and tomato sauce, making three layers of chicken mixture, three layers of tomato sauce and two layers of lasagne sheets.
10. Sprinkle the top with the grated Cheddar and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Serve with salad or green vegetables.
