Chicken Parm Lasagna

I had an idea a few weeks ago that I've been itching to try.  How about combining my favorite Italian dish, Chicken Parmesan, with lasagna?  Both dishes are frankly amazing, and the combination sounded too good to resist.

I started out by cubing the chicken into pieces about 1-2 inches in size.  In a small bowl I beat 1 egg, and in another bowl I mixed some bread crumbs and seasonings.  I dipped the chicken in the egg and coated them in the bread crumb mixture.

I boiled the lasagna noodles in a large pot, and fried the chicken in a cast iron skillet.

To make the lasagna, I spread some sauce in the bottom of a pan, then laid some noodles over it.  Next I spread 1/3 of fried chicken over the noodles, and added sauce, mushrooms, and cheese over it.  Per my husbands request, I skipped out on adding the ricotta cheese layer used in traditional lasagna and used mixed shredded Italian cheeses instead.  After adding the cheese, I added another layer of noodles and repeated the layers 3 more times.

After sprinkling some more Parmesan cheese on top, I covered the pan with tin foil and baked it for 30 minutes.  I uncovered it for the last 10 minutes.

Wow, this turned out great!  The chicken was so good but was still in pretty large chunks, so next time I am going to cut them into even smaller pieces.  My husband suggested pounding the chicken rather than cutting it up, so that may help as well.  But I definitely want to try it with ricotta or cottage cheese in as well--it helps hold the lasagna together and more cheese will just mean more flavor. I shared this with my sister and she loved it too, and seconded the idea of adding in some more cheese. This is definitely one of the best recipes I've tried and I will be repeating it soon!

Chicken Parm Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1 egg
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons mixed Italian seasoning
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 can mushrooms (4 ounces)
1 1/2 cups mixed Italian cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Boil lasagna noodles per package directions.  Cut chicken into pieces about 1-2 inches in size.   In a small bowl, beat 1 egg.  In a separate bowl, combine bread crumbs and Italian seasoning.  Dip chicken into egg, then roll in bread crumbs to coat.  Fry in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat until browned, then set aside on a large plate to cool.  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  To prepare the lasagna, spread some pasta sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking casserole.  Lay noodles over the sauce, then add about 1/3 of the chicken, evenly distributed across the noodles.  Add sauce, 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/3 of the cheese over the top.  Add another layer of noodles and repeat.  Top with more cheese, then cover with foil bake for 30 minutes, removing foil for the last 10 minutes.