This French toast is the easiest French toast available. The flavor may be adjusted according to your mood, which is the nicest part. I decided on butter pecan creamer for this recipe. Serve French toast with butter and maple syrup or powdered sugar.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Additional Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 lasagna |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion, chopped – divided
- 1 clove garlic, chopped – divided
- 2 large carrots, shredded
- 1 head escarole, chopped
- 2 (32 ounce) cartons low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 small skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1 pound ground meat loaf mix (beef, pork, veal)
- ¼ cup bread crumbs, or as needed
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon onion powder, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
- 1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 9 lasagna noodles
- 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon chopped parsley, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ⅓ cups grated Parmesan cheese, or to taste
- 2 ⅔ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large pot; cook and stir 1/2 small onion and 1/2 garlic clove until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir shredded carrots and escarole into onion mixture; cook and stir until escarole is wilted, about 10 minutes.
- Pour chicken broth into pot with vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer chicken breasts in broth until chicken is no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes. Remove chicken breasts and vegetables from broth with a slotted spoon, let chicken cool, and chop into bite-size pieces. Set chicken and vegetables aside; retain chicken broth in pot.
- Combine meat loaf mix, bread crumbs, egg, remaining 1/2 small onion, remaining 1/2 garlic clove, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper in a bowl; mix thoroughly. Scoop about 1 1/2 teaspoon meat mixture and roll into a small meatball; repeat with remaining mixture. Refrigerate meatballs until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Bring chicken broth back to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer meatballs in broth until no longer pink inside, about 10 minutes. Remove meatballs from chicken broth with a slotted spoon. Retain chicken broth in pot.
- Bring chicken broth back to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook lasagna noodles until cooked through but still slightly firm to the bite, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and set noodles aside. Reserve remaining chicken broth.
- Combine chopped chicken, vegetables, ricotta cheese, and parsley in a bowl; season with salt and black pepper. Chill mixture for 10 minutes to become firm.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Coat the bottom of a large, deep baking dish with olive oil.
- Place 3 cooked lasagna noodles into baking dish. Layer 1/3 the ricotta-chicken mixture and 1/3 the meatballs over noodles; sprinkle layers with 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese and 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice more, using 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 the ricotta mixture, 1/3 the meatballs, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, and 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese per layer.
- Bring remaining chicken broth to a boil, reduce heat to low, and whisk cornstarch into chicken broth until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour thickened chicken broth over casserole. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese over top.
- Bake casserole in the preheated oven until bubbling and cheese topping has melted, about 20 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 359 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 23 g |
| Cholesterol | 86 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 29 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 481 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Something different for dinner and everyone loved it. The combination of ingredients came together so well. We used spinach. Family said to save this recipe.
A bit bland. Switch italian saugage for meat loaf mix. Also added a layer of chopped tomatoes.Keep crushed red peppers on the table for real heat lovers like me!
Lots of steps to this but it was well worth it! I was worried there wouldn’t be enough broth left by the time I got to the step of boiling the lasagna noodles but there was. First time I have actually not overcoooked my pasta LOL! Leftovers were great and the whole family enjoyed this. Thanks for posting this very different version of Lasagna.