Cheesy Chicken Mushroom Lasagna and a Bachelor Funny

I shamefully admit that I skipped spin class on Monday evening so I could make this ridiculously fattening dinner.  It took like an hour and a half and something told me that we'd want to eat dinner before 10 PM, so spinning had to go.  I'm SURE the 30 minute walk around the neighborhood is almost the same thing as an hour long spin class, though.


This lasagna was awfully tasty and worth the wait.  I always know when my husband really likes something because he'll take a bite, nod enthusiastically, and continually point to the food with his fork over and over, during the course of the entire meal.  I don't know why he wouldn't just say, "this is delicious, honey!", but I guess I'll have to settle for fork-pointing to decipher if a recipe is good or not. 


I followed the recipe almost exactly, which is unusual for me, but I'm leery of lasagna because I've always considered it to be pretty hard to make.  Its actually not.  I don't know why I thought stacking a bunch of things together and then putting it in the oven while it cooks itself would be complicated.  Thankfully, its not!  I just subbed a mixture of swiss and monteray jack for the Gruyere.  That stuff is expensive, and I hate grating cheese because I'm always convinced I'm going to shave the skin off my knuckles and dinner will be bloody.




Anywho, we ate dinner while watching The Bachelor.  Its a guilty pleasure and I am embarassed to admit how excited I get for Monday nights when it comes on.  I get entirely too into the show and yell at the television at least a few times every week.  I find it hilarious that these women are like, "OMG, I went on a date with the Bachelor this week and made out with him shamelessly on camera and then the next day he went on a date with someone else and he made out with HER on camera too!  He's my boyfriend and I don't like sharing him with other women!  He's mine - I can't believe he's spending all this time with other people!"  Um, hello?  Honey?  Have you ever seen this show before?  The WHOLE PREMISE is that you have to share your "boyfriend" with other women and watch him woo them in front of you.  That's why we WATCH it because that's why its funny!  They are like, "I feel insecure when I don't get enough attention from the Bachelor".  Don't these people know that their insecurity and their needy tendencies are what made the producers pick them for the show in the first place?  Having a bunch of mature, level-headed, well-adjusted women on this show would just be silly!  Who would watch THAT?  Not me, that's for sure.

Cheesy Chicken and Mushroom Lasagna

Source: Epicurious

1 (10-ounce) package cremini or white mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 1/4 cups cooked, shredded chicken
3 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
12 no-boil egg lasagne noodles
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated Gruyère (3 ounces)

Preheat oven to 425° with rack in middle.

Cook mushrooms, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a 4-quart heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are softened, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer briskly 2 minutes. Transfer mushroom mixture to a large bowl and stir in chicken.

Bring milk to a bare simmer in a medium saucepan. Melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter in 4-quart saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and cook roux, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Add hot milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Add thyme, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve 1 cup sauce. Stir parmesan into sauce remaining in pan, then stir into mushroom filling.

Pour half of reserved plain sauce into baking pan, spreading evenly to coat bottom. Add 3 lasagne sheets, overlapping slightly, and one third of mushroom filling, spreading evenly, then sprinkle one fourth of Gruyère over top. Repeat 2 times. Top with remaining 3 lasagne sheets and remaining plain sauce, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with remaining Gruyère.

Cover with foil, tenting slightly to prevent foil from touching top of lasagne but sealing all around edge, and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until cheese is golden, about 15 minutes more. Let lasagne stand 10 minutes before serving.