Pesto Chicken Lasagna Rolls
By: Emily Rohrer
Published: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 8:31am

Ingredients




7 oz container of refrigerated pesto (I use Butoni brand)
10-12 lasagna noodles
1 lb. shredded chicken
15 oz. part-skim ricotta cheese
Salt & pepper
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan
2-3 cups of your favorite tomato sauce (try my homemade marinara sauce)
1 cup shredded Mozzarella
3 tbsp. Panko breadcrumbs
Cooking spray

Preparation

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the lasagna noodles according to the package direction.  In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish and set aside. 2 Combine the ricotta, a good pinch of salt and pepper, the egg and Parmesan in a medium-sized bowl.  When the noodles are done, drain well. 3 Working with 1 or 2 noodles at a time, lay them flat and spread with the pesto (about 1 tsp. per noodle), then ricotta (about 1 1/2 tbsp. per noodle) and top with shredded chicken.  Roll and place on top of the sauce in the baking dish.  Repeat until all the rolls are made. 4 Cover the lasagna rolls with the remaining sauce (1-2 cups depending on how saucy you like it) and sprinkle with the shredded Mozzarella cheese and Panko.  Mist the top with nonstick cooking spray and bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is completely melted and the breadcrumbs are toasted.

About

If you don't have leftover roast chicken lying around, just do a quick poach of boneless skinless chicken breasts in a mixture of half chicken broth and half water and whatever seasonings you like (for this recipe I'd sprinkle in a little salt, dried oregano and dried basil).  Let the water simmer gently and add in the chicken until fully cooked.  Let it cool a little and then shred it to use in the recipe.