Chicken & Squash "Lasagne"

I adore discovering new cooking books. I read them, checked out from the library, in the same manner people devour fiction and mystery.

I'm a vicarious reader so I get the other books in too (recent enjoyable reads include Maestra and That Woman).

However, there are some days where I'm not in the mood for following a recipe. I don't want to spend hours preparing and cooking something. I've no interest or energy to go to the shops to scour ingredients. 

Last Sunday was one of these days. Himself had come home with a sample bag from The Happy Pear boys, so when I looked at the random assortment of leftovers in the fridge and a tub of their tomato pesto - which I had never tried before - my mind began whirring about what I could make.

I adore sweet potato. Especially with having IBS, it's incredibly soothing on days when I'm sore or my stomach has been irritated. So when I saw a few of them around, I knew that they had to be included.

There was leftover roast chicken from a dinner earlier in the week and a butternut squash that needed to be used. Not quite sure whether it work or not, I began envisioning a type of Lasagne, but without the carbs. 

I softened the bright squash and then peeled, de-seeded and sliced into crescent moon shapes. The sweet potatoes were chopped into thick discs. The chicken was diced and a rummage in the store cupboard heralded two tins of passata.

And so in a quiet hum, I began assembling my ingredients into a deep dish. A layer of butternut squash and potatoes, a layer of chicken, passata (now flavoured with garlic and herbs), a few spoonfuls of The Happy Pear pesto, followed by two handfuls of grated cheese. I repeated this for another layer and then on the top layer of the cheese, halved cherry tomatoes and dotted them across. Another thing that needed to be use, while also giving aesthetic pleasure. Also, tomatoes of all kinds either need to be fresh and crisp, or baked until a bit pruned - the sweet juice pouring out, flavouring all that is near.

The top layer also got a few spoonfuls of the pesto, bursts of flavour that were discovered upon eating, like secret treasures.

I pre-heated the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and then loosely covered the dish with foil, unsure of how long it would take to cook.

Fourty minutes later, I opened the door, the scent of tomatoes and herbs wafting through the kitchen, and poked a fork in to see how much resistance the vehicle was giving me. Not much.

I took off the foil, turned the oven to 150 and let everyone bubble and broil away for another twenty minutes.

It was done to perfection. Everything was tender without being sludgy. The chicken was well flavored, the cheese at that blissful place between melted and burned. The favourite part of any lasagne.

I devoured it by itself while watching an episode of Everwood in my lounge bottoms. Heaven. But it would go beautifully with a simple salad or served with some Al dente pasta for a more hearty meal.

It's been heralded as a success given that within a day there was nothing left of it and I've already been asked to make it again. 

It's also so simple to vary. Meat free? Substitute chicken for Quorn or chopped mushrooms. Dairy free? Don't add cheese.

A new favourite from a mish-mash of ingredients. Is there anything more satisfactory?

Xoxo 

CHICKEN & SQUASH "LASAGNE" 

800g cooked chicken
1 medium butternut squash
6 sweet potatoes
10-12 cherry tomatoes
2 tins of passata/chopped tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
200g grated cheese (mix of mozzarella and cheddar is best)
1 tub of The Happy Pear Tomato Pesto
Basil and Oregano to season. Fresh is best but I only had dried to hand

- Place squash in microwave for 90 seconds to soften. Peel, de-seeded, slice.
- Chop potatoes into thick discs. I like to leave the skins on, but it's a personal choice.
- Chop cooked chicken
- Flavour passata with herbs and garlic and have to hand, along with cheese, tomato pesto and cherry tomatoes.
- Begin assembling a layer of squash and potato, followed by chicken, pesto, then passata and cheese. Repeat until dish is full.
- Top final layer with cheese and slice cherry tomatoes in half and arrange across top. If you have leftover fresh herbs, scatter on top. Spoon 5 or 6 dollops of tomato pesto over top too.
- Bake at 170 for 40 mins with loose foil covering dish. Them remove foil and lower oven to 150 for the last 20 minutes. If you think your cheese is browning too quickly, simply cover dish with foil again.
- Serve with salad, pasta, both or on it's own.