Chicken, Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups with Alfredo Sauce

When I go away on vacation, I always leave my son a casserole to get him started.  This was the one, this time.  I've seen many recipes for this in different variations, but created my own and it was pretty easy.  I didn't make it all from scratch and took some shortcuts.  I used:

• 1 half of a rotisserie chicken, skin stripped off and chicken shredded off the bones and chopped in small pieces (bones went to freezer for soup stock)
• 1 large container (750 grams) of 10% fat Ricotta cheese
• 1 container (10 oz) of organic baby spinach
• 1 jar (410 ml) of Alfredo sauce (I used Classico as it was on sale)
• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked in salted water and drained
• 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of pesto sauce (I used Kirkland brand)
• 1 ball (250 grams) fresh Mozzarella cheese, grated
• Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

I got the chicken ready earlier in the day and put it in the fridge.  I used half of the chicken below.

I took the spinach and put it in a large bowl.  I drizzled a couple of tablespoons of water over and sealed it with plastic wrap.  I nuked it in the microwave for a couple of minutes until just wilted.

I stirred it with each ingredient one by one...Below, pesto was the first addition:

Next was the chicken:

Last was the ricotta:

The filling was delicious when done!

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Boil noodles in salted water, drain and leave in strainer.

I find if I leave the strainer over some of the hot steaming water in the pot, they don't stick together while I'm doing prep.  I used cooking spray on a 13" x 9" baking dish.

I laced the bottom with a little Alfredo sauce and set it aside.

I took a baking sheet and rolled up 2 noodles at a time.  I made 12 and the filling was all gone though I thought it wouldn't be.

I poured the Alfredo sauce over evenly and sprinkled the Parmesan and pepper.

I topped with the fresh (I grated it) mozzarella and baked for 45 minutes.

I let it rest 15 minutes when it came out.

I tried one roll (for tasting purposes only, of course, lol) and it was darn delicious, though I know not very healthy with all the cheese - especially the ricotta, etc.

My son LOVED it (the pesto really worked well in this mixture), and that's all that matters - that and that I left him dinner for a few nights...I reminded him that ONE roll was a proper serving.  😄