triticale - the wheat / rye guy

Dragon Lasagna

A recipe turned up on one of the email lists describing itself as Buffalo Chicken Lasagna. I suspect it is more correctly some quiet upscale suburb of Buffalo. It was approximately this recipe, only without the cholesteral and salt and fat. The only touch they neglected was gluten-free lasagnoodles.

The basic notion appealed to me, so I decided to start with a proper lasagna recipe, and combine it with my established variant on hot wings.

* 8 ounces lasagna noodles
*1/4 stick (1/8 cup) butter
* 2 cloves garlic, diced
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1 pound boneless chicken breast, diced
*1/2 tspn Thai red curry paste
*1/4 tspn cumin
*1/4 tspn powdered ginger or galengal
*1/4 cup sriracha chili sauce
* 1 jar (about 16 ounces) spaghetti sauce, a basic meatless one
* 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
* 2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a medium pan. Fry the garlic in the butter until it turns frothy, add the onions and fry till transparent. Add chicken and stir-fry for four minutes. Turn down the heat, and stir in the curry paste and spices, stirring until everything is the same shade of red. Now add the sriracha sauce, stir until blended, add spaghetti sauce, stir again, and simmer over minimum heat for one hundred fifty seconds or so.

In a 2-quart buttered baking dish (about 11x7x2-inches), layer 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the sauce and 1/3 of the cheeses. If you use a pound of string cheese, cut or torn into smaller strips, instead of the grated Mot, you will recapture the classic stretchy stringy fun. Repeat layers twice. Bake lasagna for 30 minutes, or until thoroughly heated and bubbly. Let stand for 8 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving. Serves 6 to 8.