Chicken Fajita Lasagna

For those people who think that chicken is boring, I'm pretty much on a one-woman quest to prove them wrong. The other day, I was craving chicken fajitas. But, I didn’t want to just have chicken, onions, peppers and cheese in a tortilla. When I realized I had lasagna noodles left over from a previous cooking adventure, I decided right then and there I wanted to make chicken fajita lasagna, so I started scouring the Internet for recipes … and found none that sounded like what I was craving. That’s where my creative cooking bone came into play and I came up with this amazing recipe. It’s absolutely phenomenal! 

4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 each medium green, red, yellow bell peppers, julienned

1/2 red onion, julienned

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced

1 - 1.12-oz. packet fajita seasoning

1/3 cup sour cream

1 - 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1-1/2 cups small curd cottage or ricotta cheese

2-1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

9 lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large pot or Dutch oven, sauté the peppers and onions in 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Remove from pan, place in a bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, in the same pot, Cook the chicken in 2 Tbsp. olive oil until no longer pink. Add the fajita seasoning and stir well. Return the peppers and onions to the pot and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the sour cream and mix well. Set aside. In a small mixing bowl, combine the diced tomatoes and chiles and cottage or ricotta cheese. Mix well.

Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup of the chicken, pepper and onion mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place three lasagna noodles over the mixture and top with half the cheese and tomato mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of shredded cheese. Repeat layers ending with a layer of noodles topped with the tomato and cheese mixture and sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese. Spray the underside of a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray and use it to cover the baking dish. Bake 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.