Chef Tom's Wood Fired White Chicken Lasagna recipe is prepared and cooked in a Wood Fired Oven. The mouthwatering lasagna is crafted with tender spatchcock chicken, a rich and creamy pesto mornay sauce.
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Spreading pesto under the skin before roasting: Loosening the skin and working pesto directly against the meat lets that flavor cook into the chicken itself, instead of just coating the skin's surface.
- Roasting the chicken covered in cast iron: Cooking the spatchcocked bird under a lid traps steam and juices in the skillet, keeping the meat moist while it roasts in the wood-fired oven.
- Tossing the shredded chicken in its own pan juices: Mixing the pulled meat with the juices collected in the skillet keeps it moist and flavorful going into the lasagna, instead of using dry, plain shredded chicken.
- Building the mornay with pesto stirred in at the end: Adding the pesto after the cheese has melted into the sauce keeps its fresh basil flavor bright, rather than cooking it down with everything else from the start.
Wood Fired White Chicken Lasagna
Tom Jackson
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Entree
Cuisine
Italian
Servings
15
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
2 hours 46 minutes
Calories
834
Chef Tom fires up the Alfa 4 Pizze Wood Fired Oven for a Wood Fired White Chicken Lasagna featuring shredded spatchcock chicken and a creamy pesto mornay sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 (4.5 lb) whole chicken, spatchcocked
- 2 tbsp pesto
-
Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
-
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup shallots
- 5 cloves garlic, minced on microplane
-
2 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning
- 6 tbsp flour
- 6 cups half and half
- 3/4 cup (2 1/4 oz) Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
- 1 1/2 cup (6 oz/9 slices) Provolone, diced/grated
- 2/3 cup pesto
- 20 strips (19 oz) oven ready lasagna
- 24 oz Frozen spinach, thawed, drained, squeezed dry
- 18 slices (13 oz) low moisture mozzarella
- 9 slices (6 oz) sliced provolone
- 2 tbsp Italian parsley, minced for garnish
For the chicken:
For the Pesto Mornay Sauce:
For the lasagna:
Directions
- Build a fire on a wood rack in the center of the Alfa 4 Pizze Wood Fired Oven. When the fire has burned down to coals, move the rack off to the side of the oven and sweep the debris on the deck under the fire. Stabilize the temperature around 450ºF (temp gauge on opposite side of fire), and continue feeding the fire with small splits of wood to maintain that temperature.
- Remove the backbone of the chicken with poultry shears. Press the bird flat. Loosen the skin from the meat, without removing the skin. Spread a couple of tablespoons of pesto over the breast and leg meat. Season under the skin with Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning. Place the bird, skin side up, in a Finex 12” Cast Iron Skillet. Cover with a lid. Place inside the wood fired oven. Roast until the internal temperature reaches 155ºF in the breasts, about one hour. Shred the meat of the chicken by hand and discard the bones. Toss the meat in the juices collected in the bottom of the skillet. Set aside.
To make the pesto mornay sauce, place the extra virgin olive oil and butter in a Finex Dutch Oven over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the shallots, garlic and Cattleman’s Grill Italiano Seasoning. Cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until the shallots are translucent and softened. Add the flour and stir constantly for about 60-90 seconds. Slowly whisk in the half and half. Bring to a simmer and water the sauce thicken. Add the cheeses, a handful at a time, whisking constantly to melt. When all cheeses are incorporated, stir in the pesto. Remove from the heat.
- Assemble the lasagna. Start by placing a heaping cup of the pesto mornay sauce in the bottom of a Lodge Cast Iron Casserole Dish. Spread in an even layer to cover the bottom of the dish. Lay out strips of the oven ready lasagna over the sauce, to cover the entire surface. This is start of one of three layers. Place another heaping cup of the sauce over the pasta and spread evenly. Top with 1/3 of your shredded chicken and 1/3 of your spinach. Distribute evenly. Cover with six sliced of low moisture mozzarella cheese. Repeat this two more times - pasta, sauce, chicken, spinach then mozzarella. For the top layer, cover the surface with the lasagna pasta (a forth layer). Cover the pasta with more pesto mornay sauce. Spray a sheet of foil with pan spray and cover the lasagna.
- Bake the lasagna in the wood fired oven, maintaining the temperature of the oven around 400ºF, until the pasta feels tender when probed with a toothpick. For additional reference, the internal temperature will likely be over 170ºF. This should take about 90 minutes.
- Remove the foil from the lasagna. Place nine slices of provolone cheese over the top of the lasagna. Return to the oven and let cook just until the cheese is browned and bubbling on top, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the lasagna from the wood fired oven. Let cool slightly before slicing. Serve topped with minced parsley.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why spread pesto under the skin instead of on top of it?
Loosening the skin and working pesto directly against the meat lets that flavor cook into the chicken itself, rather than just sitting on the skin's surface where much of it would render off.
Why roast the chicken covered in a cast iron skillet?
A lid traps steam and juices around the bird as it roasts in the wood-fired oven, helping keep the meat moist through the cook.
Why toss the shredded chicken in the pan juices before building the lasagna?
Mixing the pulled meat with the juices collected in the skillet keeps it moist and flavorful, instead of layering dry, plain shredded chicken into the lasagna.
Why stir the pesto into the mornay sauce at the end instead of at the start?
Adding it after the cheese has melted in keeps the pesto's fresh basil flavor bright, rather than cooking it down along with everything else from the beginning.
What internal temperature should the chicken actually reach?
This recipe pulls the breasts at 155°F, but USDA's minimum safe internal temperature for poultry — breast, thigh, and wing alike — is 165°F. Cook the chicken to at least 165°F in the breast rather than pulling it early at 155°F.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
3 out of 5 — a regular oven can roast the chicken and bake the lasagna in place of the wood-fired oven; you'll lose the wood smoke character but the technique translates directly.
Recipe Highlights
Under-the-skin pesto: Cooks flavor directly into the meat rather than just the surface.
Covered roasting: Traps steam and juices to keep the chicken moist.
Juice-tossed shredded chicken: Carries flavor and moisture into the lasagna layers.
Late-added pesto in the sauce: Preserves its fresh flavor instead of cooking it down.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 14.53 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 834
- Carbs
- 55 grams
- Protein
- 46 grams
- Fat
- 48 grams
- Sodium
- 843 milligrams
