Chicken and pecorino lasagne

Chicken and pecorino lasagne. Photo / Babiche Martens

Serves 6

Olive oil
600g chicken thigh meat, choppped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g lasagne
500g button mushrooms
Pecorino cheese
1 large bunch of fresh spinach, stalks removed

Bechamel sauce
600ml milk
60g butter
60g plain flour
Salt and white pepper
Freshly ground nutmeg

1 Begin with the bechamel sauce; have two saucepans heating on the stove. Pour the milk into one and keep hot. In the other add the butter and melt. Stir in the flour and cook while stirring until you have a smooth paste. Add the milk ladle by ladle while stirring, until you have a smooth sauce, cooking over a very gentle heat. Season to taste with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.

2 Heat a large pan and add 2 Tbs olive oil. Add the chicken, season and cook over a high heat for 10 minutes then remove and set aside. Add the mushrooms to the pan and saute for 5 minutes.

3 Preheat oven to 180C. Brush the baking dish lightly with olive oil. Put one layer of lasagne on the bottom then cover with a third of the bechamel sauce. Top with the mushrooms and a generous amount of grated pecorino. Add a second layer of the pasta and another third of the bechamel. Top with the fresh spinach then cover with pasta. Cover this with the chicken and the remaining bechamel, then cover with grated pecorino and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until bubbling and golden.