Per your requests, here is the my version of the following recipe: http://thecozyapron.com/the-layers-of-six-cheese-lasagna-like-the-layers-of-life/ - Thanks to the author of that blog for such a great recipe, its a wonderful starting point, that you can run with in many different directions. However, with that said - I believe the original recipe would be amazing as well! I just was working with what I had on hand. :)
First thing I did was bake 5 slices of thick-cut bacon, that I seasoned a little prior to baking with a tiny bit of pepper and italian herbs - not sure if it was needed, but it tasted good so its worth trying.
Much more then 5 slices I think would be TOO much, as bacon is very heavy and assertive, if you use a different salted/pork product you may be able to get away with more.
Then I chopped up 1 chicken breast and 1/2 pack of mushrooms into small bites (about 1/4-1/2" chunks) you want them small so you get a little bit of each in every bite. I think I could have used a 2nd breast of chicken in mine, but I was making a VERY large batch in my 11x15" Pyrex. Lasted 3 days (could have lasted longer but my hubby kept having multiple servings each night!) with my 3 person family.
So once you have the chicken and mushrooms chopped up fairly small, saute them together (I used the bacon grease from the baked bacon for the fat to help it from sticking and impart more flavor) with Italian seasoning/herbs and pepper. Until JUST cooked, you don't want them to dry out. In cooking them together though it helps keep the chicken moist and not dry out, as well as impart a lot of flavor in both. Now remove them from the pan, reserving as much liquid as possible for later.
Chop up whatever veggies you intend to use, again keeping the pieces small so it incorporates throughout the lasagna, I used broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots (as well as the mushrooms listed above), as that's just what I had on hand. I used about 2 cups of each, and again I think I needed more in such a big lasagna - but it was tasty!
DON'T FORGET TO GET YOUR NOODLES GOING - I was so focused on the other ingrediants and the sauce that I honestly had everything ready to go before I realized I didn't even have water on the stove to boil! Now you can use the no-boil noodles to eliminate that problem, but I happen to like the texture of original lasagna noodles better... your call.
Gently cook the veggies in the reserved liquid from the meat/mushrooms, helps impart more flavor. (bacon, chicken, mushrooms, herbs.... all cooked into your veggies slightly... mmm).
Now for the sauce - the directions in the recipe link above is pretty much what I used, only I didn't have fresh basil or chicken paste so I just used the Italian seasoning and instead of only milk, I used a bit of chicken stock (low sodium). Because of the salt content in the cheeses used and bacon, you really don't want to add any more salt then needed. I also added extra cheese, A LITTLE BIT of crumbled goat cheese (little goes a long way, don't go over-bored), mozzarella and parm. The lemon juice/zest is KEY - really helps break up all the heaviness of the cheese and bacon down the road. If you want to cut a little corners - I found adding jarred Alfredo sauce after the cheese sauce is done to help add more flavor and give you a bit more to work with was very effective.
Chop up the cooked/cooled bacon into small bits.
The rest of the assembly is pretty straight forward, just put a little of the sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. then noodles, then more sauce (you don't want dried out noodles, so keep them covered, but don't go crazy - cause you'll need a good deal of sauce at the top.) then chicken/mushroom mixture, veggies, bacon, sliced/grated mozzarella, goat cheese (again keep this part light), and ricotta in small bits. more noodles and repeat. Be sure to reserve a good amount of sauce for the top, you REALLY don't want it to dry out. more cheese, a little parm, pepper, herbs if you want and bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until bubbly & slightly browned! (*Tip from the other recipe is the put a foil lined baking sheet under your pyrex, to catch any spill over - helped a lot)
Like I said before, you could probably put just about anything in here veggie wise, or pork product wise. Other meat isn't really needed, my 2 year old just LOVES chicken and is hesitant on veggies and cheese, so I wanted to give her something she could get into. It was a huge hit for the whole family, and with a bit more veggies in it next time, it would be a great, slightly indulgent way to feed the family a nice semi-healthy dinner.
Hope you enjoy!
