Roasted Chicken, Rosemary and Goat Cheese Lasagna (Kopie)

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Let me start by saying I am not a runner. I never have been. Being the exercise enthusiast that I am, I will even go as far as saying, I hate running.

Now that that’s out of the way, I’m excited to announce I recently just completed my first 6.5 mile, half relay marathon! I know. I’ll explain.

Somewhere around the sixth month during my pregnancy is when it happened. I began to really get the itch. It was between the period when my knees were giving out on me and dealing with the 20 extra pounds I had gained. (Well, it was actually a little closer to 25 extra pounds. Ok, ahem…50. Ish. But most of it was water weight, I swear!).

Around that time was when I made a vow to myself that as soon as I was cleared for exercise I was going to tie up my laces and hit the pavement, hard. It was my way of mentally focusing on getting through the last months as my energy continued to decrease and my self-pity increased.

So, I stuck to my word and just a couple of Sundays ago I completed my first ever marathon. My two best gal-friends and sister, who are all regular runners, coached me through the whole process from beginning to end. Everything from how to stretch, how to train, when to train. What to eat…

I was given strict instructions to eat LOTS of carbs the days leading up to the race. Biscuits, pizza, dulce de leche bars. Ok, I made that part up, but the carbs part was true. I ate toast with bananas for breakfast, a powerbar for lunch, and this lasagna for dinner the night before. And boy did it help me finish.

I’m not exactly convinced it was the carbs themselves that helped, but the fact that the lasagna was so insanely good, and I had leftovers in the fridge waiting for me to eat for lunch after I got back, so I ran that sucker as fast as I could.

The answer, I will never know, but the important thing is, I finished!

•8 cooked lasagna sheets
•1 1.5 lb roasted chicken, meat pulled off and shredded (about 3 cups shredded chicken)
•4 tbsp unsalted butter
•¼ cup flour
•4 cups whole milk
•2 large stalks fresh rosemary (about 3 tsp), roughly chopped
•1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
•kosher salt and pepper
•2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (2 cups plus ½ cup)
•8 oz goat cheese log
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the lasagna sheets and set aside while you prepare the sauce.

In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook to make a roux, about 2 minutes. While whisking slowly add the milk. Add the rosemary, nutmeg and 1 tsp kosher salt, and cook stirring occasionally until thickened, about 5 minutes. Turn heat off and stir in 2 cups of the mozzarella until smooth. Check seasoning, add more salt as needed, and add pepper.

Across the bottom of a greased 8×8 pan, spoon about ¼ cup of béchamel sauce (just to cover the bottom), ¼ of the chicken, ¼ of the goat cheese and then arrange 2 cooked noodles next to each other on top (you may have to trim the lasagna sheets if you are using the standard length). Repeat this three more times, ending with a layer of noodles on top. Top with remaining ½ cup cheese, cover tightly with foil and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Remove foil and place under the broiler to brown the cheese on top.

Serve with crispy garlic bread. Enjoy!