We love buffalo chicken in this house. I decided I wanted to make a buffalo chicken lasagna, but was unhappy with all of the recipes I found, some of which called for marinara which I thought would be way too far from the traditional buffalo goodness. I wanted to incorporate classic elements like celery and blue cheese. What I came up with was amazing. It was like eating buffalo wings in a pasta. The sauce is a rudimentary bechamel which gives a nice creamy, oniony, "dip" like element to the pasta. I kept the spice level from being overwhelming by mixing hot sauce only with the chicken, and then spreading that into two layers. I added in a layer of broiled tomatoes to give an element of mild acidity. This is a great little lasagna that will please any buffalo lover.
Ingredients
4 roma tomatoes, sliced
4 tablespoons butter
1 white onion, diced
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1 package no boil lasagna noodles
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1//4 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
1. Place the sliced roma tomatoes on a nonstick baking tray. Broil for about 7 minutes, until the tomatoes start to wrinkle. Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Increase heat to medium high. Add in onions and saute for about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent and soft. Whisk in flour thoroughly to form a paste. Reduce heat to medium low. Whisk in the milk. Continue whisking and slowly increase the heat. As the mixture gets hotter, it will thicken. Once thick, remove from heat and set aside. You've just created a very basic form of a bechemel sauce.
3. In a small bowl mix your shredded, cooked chicken with the frank's hot sauce.
4. Place a couple spoonfuls of the bechamel sauce onto the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
5. Assemble your lasagna. Lay 4 no boil lasagna noodles onto the sauced pan.
- Layer 1: Spread a few more spoonfuls of the bechamel over the noodles. Spread out half of the chicken. Top with 1/3 of the celery, and about 1/2 cup mozzarella. Lay 4 more lasagna noodles over the top.
- Layer 2: Spread a few more spoonfuls of the bechamel over the noodles. Lay out all of the broiled tomatoes evenly across. Top with 1/3 of the celery, 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese, and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Lay 4 more lasagna noodles over the top.
- Layer 3: (Same as Layer 1) Spread a few more spoonfuls of the bechamel over the noodles. Spread out half of the chicken. Top with remaining celery, and about 1/2 cup mozzarella. Lay 4 more lasagna noodles over the top.
- Layer 4: Spread the remaining bechamel sauce over the noodles. Top with remaining mozzarella and blue cheese.
6. Cover with aluminium foil and bake in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 5-10 minutes until cheese on top starts to brown.
