Cacio E Pepe Roast Chicken Lasagne

• portions: Serves 4
• temps total: 1 hour 42 minutes

Ingrédients

I have to say, one of my favourite recipes I ever created was my original chicken lasagne from my first cookbook. This is a spin on it and oh my, it is good. I buy the pre-roasted chicken for ease, but it’s also brilliant for using up leftover Sunday meat.

555 kcal & 42g protein per portion

You’ll need:

1 large red onion

2 sticks celery

1 large carrot

1 large red pepper

2 garlic cloves

400g tin good quality chopped tomatoes

400ml passata

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 chicken stock cube

1 tbsp chopped fresh sage

350g cooked, shredded roast chicken

Lasagne sheets

Extra Grana Padano or parmsean

For the béchamel:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp plain flour

800ml semi-skimmed milk

60g Grana Padano or parmsean, finely grated

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (more to taste)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 190°C fan. Finely dice the veg and garlic. Sauté in olive oil with a pinch of salt for 5 mins until soft. Stir in tomato purée and sage, cook 5 mins more. Add tomatoes, passata, and stock cube. Simmer 20 mins until thickened. Stir in chicken, cook 5 mins, then season.

For béchamel: heat oil, stir in flour and cook 4-5 mins. Slowly whisk in cold milk, simmer 5–10 mins. Off heat, stir in cheese and pepper. It should be creamy, cheesy, and properly peppery.

To assemble: layer ragu → béchamel → cheese + pepper → lasagne sheets. Repeat 2 more times. Finish with a thin layer of ragu, rest of the béchamel. Top with more cheese and pepper.

Cover with foil and bake 30 mins. Remove foil, increase heat to 200°C fan, and bake 15 mins until golden and bubbling. Rest 10 mins before slicing.