Chicken Lasagna

Chicken Lasagna
Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Yeast Free, Soy Free, Corn Free, Peanut Free

Ingredients
9 rice lasagna noodles (for a three layer lasagna)
¾ lb ground chicken (or turkey, if you prefer)
½ medium sized onion finely chopped (use a whole one if you love onion)
1 and 1/4 tsp sugar

2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, stems removed, washed, and coarsely chopped.
1 bottle (750 ml or 1 liter) of strained tomatoes (no spices)
3 cloves of garlic
1+ 1/2 tsp organic Italian seasoning (gluten free)
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Note: add any other vegetables that you like to add variety. Green peppers, celery, or broccoli for example. Just chop and sauté them a little, and add them to the sauce. Also, if you like a spicier sauce, adjust the seasonings in the sauce.

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F

Pasta
In a large pot over medium high heat, bring the pasta water to the boiling point. When it has boiled, add the rice pasta and follow the directions. Be sure to separate the noodles (by stirring) as they will stick together. Do NOT over cook the rice pasta as it will not hold up well. Once it is al dente, rinse it under cool water to remove the starch. When the pasta has cooled, keep it floating in cold water until you are ready to use it.

Sauce
While the pasta water is coming to a boil, heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and sprinkle it with ¼ tsp of sugar. Cook through, and then reserve it for use later.

In the same frying pan, add the ground chicken and sprinkle it with about ½ tsp of sea salt and ½ tsp of Italian seasoning and cook over medium to medium high heat until cooked through. When the chicken is nearly done, add the garlic and cooked onion. Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

When the chicken is cooked through, add the bottle of strained tomatoes and season it with 1 tsp of Italian seasoning, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt and 1/8 tsp of white pepper.

When the sauce is heated through, taste it and adjust the seasonings. Often the strained tomatoes need a little extra zip of salt and pepper. If you like, and can tolerate additional spices, (example, cayenne or chili), add them to the sauce now.

Assembly
In a small lasagna pan, spread a little sauce in the bottom to keep the first layer of pasta from sticking. Cover the bottom of the pan with the first three noodles. Add 1/3 of the sauce and ½ of the fresh chopped spinach leaves. Cover this will the next three lasagna noodles. Add 1/3 of the sauce and the remaining spinach leaves. Cover this with the last three lasagna noodles. Add the remaining sauce. Do not put spinach leaves on the top layer as they will likely burn.

Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree F oven.

Let the lasagna sit for 10 minutes, then enjoy.
Works well as a leftover too. My family prefers it the next day.