Now, I don’t want to speak for Ray but Ray doesn’t like Valentine’s Day. I know, cliché. But true. Like most others, Ray thinks that the 14th of February is silly. When Ray is here, we do stuff all the time. We make dinner and we go out. We drink wine (Ray drinks beers). We buy presents for holidays and occasions and just because we can.
So consequently, when mid-February comes around, Ray whines and groans and says, “do you really want to do something or what?” And the lame girl inside screams, “YESSS! Let’s get dressed cute and go to dinner and spend to much and get champagne and a rich, chocolatey dessert!!” But, the cool girl actually says, “Psh, V-Day is sooo lame. Let’s just do whatev.”
But, one Valentine’s, our first Valentine’s we were sooo cute. It was sickening to watch. We went to HEB, we bought all of these groceries* and we made an original dish. I have fond memories of us not knowing what we were doing, scared it was going to be gross and we’d end up having to order a pizza, and patiently waiting for it to be done. It was all very cute.
Here’s what we made:
Chicken and Broccoli Lasagna.
It. Is. Amazing.
It’s so good.
Kind of life-changing.
Here’s what you’ll need:
The only thing not pictured is the mozzarella cheese.
Before I go any further, let me start by saying all photo credits should go to Ray. I was teaching my night class and Ray was nice enough to make the dish and take pictures of the whole process for my blog.**
Start by cooking your lasagna, grilling your chicken, and cooking your broccoli. The key to this dish being tasty is seasoning! Ray bought the pesto, pre-seasoned HEB chicken and added my beloved Garlic Herb Mrs. Dash to the broccoli.
Then, put your ricotta into a bowl and throw some seasoning in there. Knowing Ray it was some mix of all the different seasonings I have. From the picture, I know there was the Mrs. Dash, garlic powder, garlic salt. But, you can also add some parsley, basil, oregano if you want. Of course, mix in some salt and pepper.
Then grease your glass baking dish. I think the dimensions of this pan are 10 x 16, but don’t quote me on that.
Next you’re going to want to follow this order precisely. The magic is in the order (and the seasoning):
Pasta …
... Ricotta ...
... Broccoli ...
... Chicken ...
... Cheese ...
... Alfredo Sauce (be generous) ...
... and repeat. You'll want to repeat this 2-3 times, so make sure to ration the ingredients.
End with a layer of pasta with some cheese on top. Bake at 350 until the cheese on the top is golden (and a little bubbly.
Then, dive in. Add a small salad for balance and enjoy. Bon Appetit!
* In addition to the groceries we bought, we bought wine. I was a young, immature wine drinker back then so I'm pretty sure it was moscato. I'm kind of ashamed ...
** I'd never live it down if I didn't give Ray props for the pics.
*** Ray had a helper / eager scrap eater throughout the entire cooking extravaganza. Gotta love Paisley!
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