Cashew Pesto Lasagna

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaf
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted salted cashews (divided)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup shredded fresh pecorino romano cheese
• 1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
• 6 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
• 2 cups pre-cooked chopped chicken
• 6 ounces chopped fresh portabella mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 tablespoons butter, for sauteing mushrooms and onions
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup creamy cottage cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups spaghetti sauce
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1/8 cup mozzarella cheese

Recipe

• 1 place the first five ingredients (using only 1/2 of the cashews) into a food processer and pulse or use a hand blender until you have a moist paste
• 2 add the cottage cheese and the eggs to the pesto sauce and blend again until just blended together but tiny chunks of cashews are still visible
• 3 do not overmix
• 4 set aside
• 5 saute the mushrooms and onions with the butter and the salt and pepper until the most of the butter is absorbed
• 6 add the cooked chicken to the mushrooms and onions and the other half of the chopped cashews
• 7 mix well
• 8 set aside
• 9 grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan
• 10 pour 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan
• 11 lay 3 cooked lasagna noodles side by side on top of the sauce
• 12 pour a line of the pesto/cottage cheese/egg mixture along the middle of each noodle putting about 1/6 of the mixture on top of each one
• 13 mix the 1 1/2 cup of morzerella and the 1 1/2 cup of monterey jack cheese together and put 1/2 of the mixed cheeses over the pesto/cottage cheese/egg layer
• 14 sprinkle half of the mushroom/onion/chicken/cashew mixture over the previous layer
• 15 pour 1 cup of spaghetti sauce over the mushroom/onion/chicken/cashew layer
• 16 make another layer of ingredients following instructions from # 7 to # 11, ending with the spaghetti sauce
• 17 sprinkle the 1/8th cup of morzerella cheese over the top
• 18 bake 350 degrees farenheit for about 40 minutes
• 19 it should be only slightly brown on top
• 20 let casserole sit for 10 minutes before serving for the dish to hold together better
• 21 cut between noodles and then horizontally to make 12 servings
• 22 serve with salad and garlic bread