Chicken and Butternut Squash Lasagne

I met Rebecca from Chow and Chatter back when I first started blogging and did my first guest post for her.  We seem to share quite a lot of similarities,  both of us are married to doctors and our kids are the same ages.  She is such a lovely and sweet person and I love her Instagram stories and her travel stories as well.


This recipe was inspired by a recipe from her blog which she once posted. I have made this using fresh chicken pieces and also cooked and shredded roast chicken. Either way, it's delicious.
The butternut is roasted along with the bell pepper and a few garlic cloves and the roasted vegetables really help to take this recipe to a new level.

The roasted butternut is used in one layer of the lasagne, along with the garlic cloves, slightly squashed up so they make a vegetable layer.

In the islands, it is difficult getting parmesan cheese so I have left the option of using either parmesan cheese or cheddar cheese to finish off the lasagne.

 A little sprinkle of chilli flakes and pepper gives on top gives a nice chilli kick.
So give the recipe a go! Serve with a nice big green leafy salad!

Yield: 4-6Author: Nammi

Chicken and butternut squash lasagne

prep time: 1 hour cook time: 45 mins total time: 1 hour and 45 mins

Ingredients:

• 300g Butternut squash
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 2 cups cooked chicken ( roast chicken or shred some chicken)
• 3-4 cloves garlic left whole  without peeling
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 - 1/2 of scotch bonnet pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried herb mix
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt
• olive oil
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 cup chicken stock ( that's  1 stock cube mixed with 1 cup hot water)
• 2 cups milk
• 25g cheddar cheese, grated
• 8-10 sheets dried Lasagne
• a handful of grated parmesan or extra cheddar

Instructions:

1. First, prepare the butternut squash by peeling and cutting the butternut into large cubes.  Add into a bowl along with the bell pepper half and the garlic.  Add 2 tbsps of olive oil, chilli flakes and dried herb mix, salt. Toss it in and then pile the whole thing in one layer into a roasting tray and pop in a preheated oven at 220 degrees C for 30 - 40 minute.
2. While the butternut is roasting, prepare the sauce:
   Heat a saucepan, over a medium heat add butter and let it melt gently. Once the butter melts add the flour, and bring the heat low and mix in the flour till the raw smell goes and the butter and flour mix well.
3. Now add milk cup at a time, whisking in the flour mixture well into the milk before adding the next cup. Add the stock as well. Now bring the mixture to a simmer over a medium heat and stir till the mixture starts to thicken.  Dip a spoon and when you run a finger on the back of the spoon the sauce should stay in place.  Stir in the cheese.  Taste add salt and pepper as needed set aside to cool.
4. For the chicken filling, remove the bell pepper from the roasting tray, remove the skin and chop it up.
   Heat a frying pan with olive oil add saute' the onions till they soften. Add the roasted peppers, scotch bonnet peppers, cooked chicken ( you can even use finely chopped up raw chicken here as well, a boneless chicken breast piece will do. ). Stir in everything, add    1/2 tsp of dried herbs and salt and pepper and mix well, till everything is cooked through and mixed well. Set aside.
5. Remove 1 1/2 cups of the cheese sauce and mix it into the chicken mixture.
6. Squash the roasted butternut squash with your fingers, and squeeze the garlic out from the skins and mix the two together gently and set aside.
7. First, add 2 tbsp of the chicken sauce at the bottom of an 8x 8-inch square tray, then a layer of lasagne sheet, then top with a layer of squash and garlic mix, it doesn't need to be a full layer just dot it around the pasta sheet.
8. Add another layer of pasta, then sauce, and a layer of pasta.  On the final layer, cover with the plain cheese sauce and add more cheese on top ( either cheddar or parmesan).
9. Cover with foil and place in a preheated oven at around 200- 220 degrees C for 45 minutes. During the last 15 minutes remove the foil and bake so the top turns a nice golden colour.
   Remove and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving.
   
   

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