Mexican Pumpkin Smoked Chicken Lasagna Recipes

MEXICAN CHICKEN LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook onion in oil over medium heat until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in chicken and enchilada sauce. Bring to a boil. , Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the eggs, ricotta cheese and cilantro., Spread 3/4 cup chicken mixture into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Layer with three noodles, 2/3 cup ricotta mixture, 3/4 cup chicken mixture and 1 cup shredded cheese. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, sauce and shredded cheese., Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

SMOKED SAUSAGE, PUMPKIN, AND COLLARD GREENS LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cook lasagna noodles in boiling salted water until just al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain well and transfer noodles to a baking pan. Toss the noodles with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to prevent them from sticking together.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add sausage; cook about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add onion, reduce heat to medium, and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add collard greens and cook about 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until wilted and liquid has evaporated. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
• In a medium bowl, stir together 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, pumpkin puree, heavy cream, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. In another bowl, stir together remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, ricotta, eggs, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, and 1 cup fontina.
• Coat a 9x13-inch (3-quart) broiler-proof baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon 1/2 cup of the pumpkin mixture into the dish; spread in an even layer. Arrange 3 or 4 lasagna noodles over pumpkin mixture, overlapping slightly. Spread 1/2 of the remaining pumpkin mixture over the noodles in an even layer. Top with 1/2 of the sausage mixture and another layer of 3 to 4 noodles. Spread 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over noodles. Repeat layering with noodles, remaining pumpkin mixture, remaining sausage mixture, another layer of noodles, and remaining ricotta mixture.
• Cover lasagna with foil and bake until bubbly around the edges and thoroughly heated in the center, about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and uncover. Preheat broiler. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining 1 cup fontina on top of the lasagna and broil about 4 inches from heat source until browned, about 4 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

MEXICAN PUMPKIN SMOKED CHICKEN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Saute onion, garlic and peppers in olive oil until browned.
• Add in herbs, vegetable cube, pumpkin and a cup or two of water. You want to dissolve the vegetable cube and thin the sauce so that is like the tomato sauce you'd normally use to make lasagna. The water in this will also hydrate the pasta, so don't skimp! Adjust heat so that sauce simmers and flavor develops. Taste and adjust for salt.
• Grate Jack cheese. You can also use pepper Jack or mozarella or cheddar, even.
• Chop chicken. You can also used a nice quality smoked chicken deli meat, too.
• In a large bowl, mix ricotta with herbs and eggs. Thin with milk if necessary to make it spreadable.
• Assembly: Pour a small amount of sauce to cover the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Lay the dry pasta sheets on top (I find that I never have to cook or soak my noodles, whatever the brand--just make sure you have sufficient liquid in the dish). Smear the ricotta mixture on top of the dry pasta sheets, sprinkle chicken on top of that, the grated cheese on top of that and then spoon half your jar of salsa over that. Then add another, more generous layer of the pumpkin sauce. Then pasta, ricotta, chicken, jack, salsa and/or pumpkin. The last layer should be pumpkin sauce sprinkled with the grated cheese.
• I find that lasagna can be a little tricky with regard to the quantity of ingredients you have. Coming up short or with too much this or that has to do with how thickly you layer things and the depth of your pan. I do know that you don't really want to end with a layer of pasta noodles because they'll just stay hard and that if you only give yourself a centimeter clearance from the top you should probably place the pan on a cookie sheet before it goes into the over because it will likely boil over! I often keep a small pan off to the side so I can improvise with any leftovers.
• Cover and bake in a 350 (180) degree oven until bubbly and cheese is melted--around 45 minutes. Uncover to brown the top or, if at the start it seems too watery to you, go ahead and bake it uncovered the whole time.
• Serve with sour cream and pickled jalapenos if you like.

WEEKNIGHT MEXICAN CHICKEN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Spread 1/2 cup of salsa on the bottom of the prepared baking dish and cover with a layer of corn tortillas. Tear tortillas to fit any empty spaces and cover entire bottom of pan.
• Spread tortillas with 1/2 of the refried beans. Top beans with corn kernels, 1 cup of salsa, and 1 cup of Mexican cheese. Add a layer of corn tortillas. Cover tortilla layer with remaining refried beans, chicken, 1 cup of salsa, and 1 cup of Mexican cheese. Add a layer of corn tortillas. Pour remaining salsa over top of tortillas and top with remaining cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven, 20 to 25 minutes.

MEXICAN CHICKEN LASAGNA

Steps:

• Chop cilantro with Chef's Knife. Place cream cheese in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 30-45 seconds or until very soft. Add cilantro and 1½ cups of the Monterey Jack cheese; mix well using Small Mix 'N Scraper®. Chop onion using Food Chopper; set aside. Spread 2/3 cup of the enchilada sauce over bottom of Deep Covered Baker. Pour remaining enchilada sauce into Stainless (4-qt.) Mixing Bowl; set aside.
• To assemble lasagna, using Sauté Tongs, dip four tortillas into enchilada sauce in mixing bowl and arrange over sauce in baker overlapping as necessary. Scoop half of the cream cheese mixture over tortillas using Small Scoop; spread using Small Spreader. Top with 1 cup of the chicken and one-third of the onion. Repeat layers one time. Dip remaining four tortillas into sauce and arrange over second layer. Top with remaining chicken and onion. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over lasagna and sprinkle with remaining ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese.
• Microwave, covered, on HIGH 12-15 minutes or until center is hot. Let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with additional chopped cilantro. Cut into squares using Utility Knife; serve using Mini-Serving Spatula.