Chicken Pesto Lasagna Roll-Ups for National Pasta Day
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Happy National Pasta Day! To celebrate this day, I have a fun and flavorful chicken pesto lasagna roll-up for you all. I love to make lasagna roll-ups because they are easier to serve than regular lasagna. Since they are rolled, it’s much easier to dish up a roll than layers of noodles, sauce, and cheese that want to slip and slide all over as you attempt to serve it from the pan.
Now, this lasagna roll-up gets a change of flavor by incorporating chicken instead of beef or sausage and it also has the addition of pesto. It also incorporates a simple made from scratch white sauce. In a pinch you could substitute some prepared alfredo sauce and I think it would work fine.
I made this dish when we had 2 young men over as dinner guests. Everyone loved the dish. Since making it, my two boys have actually requested several times now to have me make it again. You could even make it with homemade sauce, but I used good old bottled sauce for this recipe.
Chicken Pesto Lasagna Roll-Ups
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
- 12 lasagna noodles
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 cups milk I used skim
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups shredded chicken breast
- 3 ¼ cups ricotta cheese
- ¾ cup basil pesto
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 1 24 oz jar marinara sauce, divided
- Grated Parmesan for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside..
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook lasagna according to package instructions; drain well.
- In a large saucepan, prepare a white sauce by melting the butter. then whisk in the flour until lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spread 1/2 cup of the white sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, ricotta, pesto, 1 cup of the mozzarella, salt and pepper, to taste. Lay the noodles flat and spread about 1/3 cup ricotta mixture evenly along each noodle leaving about 1 inch uncovered at the end.
- Roll up toward the uncovered end of each noodle and place seam side down in the baking dish.
- Top with remaining white sauce. Then top with 1 cup of marinara and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of mozzarella.
- Place into oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until lasagna rolls are heated through and the cheese is beginning to brown.
- To serve, place 2 Tbsp of marinara on the plate and place lasagna roll on top. Then garnished with Parmesan, if desired.
Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious.
