All cheese is not created equal

This post is about a recipe.

Chicken Lasagna Alfredo

A rather delicious twist on lasagna from my good friend Michelle. Before last night, I had eaten it twice, both times prepared for me by Chef Michelle. It was delicious and now, it was my turn.

As luck would have it, I had most of the ingredients. Everything, that is, except the cheese. I was out of mozzarella and Feta. Because I was busy cooking, I sent Andrew out at 4:30 p.m. for the missing cheese. The fact that it is 4:30 is an important detail, so hang in there.

There I was in the kitchen . . .my chicken was cut, ready to be cooked. The garlic, onion and artichoke hearts were chopped and ready to go, the pasta water just coming to a full boil. I am adding my beautiful Barilla lasagna noodles to the pot when the first call came, at 4:32, not two minutes out of our driveway, Andrew calls to ask,

"What cheese am I supposed to get again?"

"Mozarella and Feta."

(Que: music.)The cooking symphony recommences . . .Noodles in. Chicken cooked. The homemade, delicious, garlicky Alfredo sauce is thickening.

Call number three: roughly 4:40 p.m. "Feta and what other cheese?"

"Mozarella," I said, successfully keeping the other thoughts in my head from becoming audible.

At 5 p.m., call number four: "There's no mozzarella cheese in this store."

This is the line that I love the best about this whole story. It still makes me laugh, even now, as I type.

Patiently, I direct him (by phone) to the mozzarella. We worked very well together and the cheese was in his hands minutes later. If this is something you haven't done yet with your teenagers, it's great fun.

At 5:10, he comes in and tosses this on the counter:

When what I wanted was this:

Real cheese.

And it was this fact that made my helper anything but happy.

I will spare you the exchange that occurred after said fact was finally realized, but thankfully, he went back. He bought real cheese.
Here is where the other stuff went:


It was 6 p.m. before we ate our "early" dinner, but it was worth the wait. I would've had a picture of the lasagna, but it was gone - the whole pan - by the time I got home from my NAMI meeting!

So, for those of you who stuck with this very, looong, boring post . . .is your recipe.

Chicken Lasagna Alfredo
10 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 jar alfredo sauce or your own homemade sauce
1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
3 c. cooked chicken, chopped
2 jars Reese's marinated artichoke hearts or 1 can, chopped
1/2 c. red bell peppers, diced
1/4 c. onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 c. shredded mozzarella (NOT imitation!)
1 pkg. feta cheese
2 c. baby spinach leaves
Boil lasagna noodles and drain when cooked. Mix the jar of alfredo sauce with the milk and oregano. (If you make your own sauce, you can skip this step.) Chop artichoke hearts, peppers, onion, and garlic. Cook the chicken with the vegetables, but not the artichoke hearts. Add the hearts to the cooked chicken mixture.
In a 9x 13 inch pan spread a small amount of alfredo sauce and then layer noodles, chicken artichoke mixture, spinach, and cheeses. Repeat layers. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.