Italian Chicken and Vegetable Lasagna

This idea for an Italian chicken 'lasagna' came to me in stages and is very labor and time intensive.  It's layered like lasagna, but without pasta.  There are four distinct groupings to the ingredients.  The first, that takes time to simmer for the flavors to develop, is the red sauce.

Red Sauce:
4 little garden carrots

1 head of garlic

½ yellow pepper

1 purple onion

1t sugar

1½t Italian seasoning

2T extra virgin olive oil

28oz. diced tomatoes

24oz. canned pasta sauce

Chop or slice all the vegetables, combine everything in this group in a 2-3 quart pot and simmer for at least an hour.  Next, cut up the chicken into small pieces and saute' until the juices are pull out, evaporate and the meat begins to brown.  Continue to cook over low heat.

Chicken:

1½# boneless-skinless chicken

1-2T extra virgin olive oil

½ med. onion - diced

salt and pepper

Vegetables:

2-3 med. zucchini

4 med.-lg. Yukon Gold potatoes

1c water

Scrub the vegetables then cut into chunks into a big non-stick pan.  Add the water, cover and saute' over low heat until they're partially cooked.  Tilt the pain and spoon the starchy cooking liquid into the chicken.  As the meat browns this water will create its own sauce.

Ricotta Cheese Mixture:

1# ricotta cheese

1c grated parmesan cheese

½-1t Rosemary Seasoning

~ or salt and pepper

1t dry oregano

3 lg. beaten eggs

Whisk the ricotta mixture together.  Combine the cooked chicken with the partially cooked vegetables.  Starting with a little red sauce in the bottom of a large glass baking pan, add half the chicken-vegetable mixture by some of the cheese mixture, then the red sauce.

This made the equivalent of two 9"x13" pans.  Repeat all layers, top with shredded cheese, bake at 350⁰ for 30-45 minutes until everything is bubbling well.

Let stand 10 minutes, cut into squares and serve with a fresh green salad. . .Lin