Working Through Naptime: Chicken Alfredo Roll-ups

Tonight I completely threw any thought of a diet out the window. Let's be honest, you've seen what I normally eat so you know I'm kidding about the diet, but seriously this will explode your calorie tracker if you are dieting. Gotta love any recipe that includes a stick of butter and a pint of cream!

I love pasta with Alfredo sauce. I don't eat it often and when I do I try to load it with vegetables so at least some part of it is healthy. Since it's new recipe night Aaron already feels like he is compromising by trying the new dish so I decided to make things Aaron style for once and nix the veggies. Not that the original recipe called for any veggies, but if you did want to add some you could do spinach or finely chopped broccoli. They both go well with Alfredo sauce and chicken.

The original recipe included a recipe for homemade sauce which is great because there is no way I would use a jar of sauce. Not that there is anything wrong with jarred Alfredo sauce, I just haven't found one I like yet and I've tried almost all of them. They all seem to have too much garlic and I find that strange because I love garlic. I add extra garlic to all kinds of things but for some reason the garlic in Alfredo sauce just becomes overpowering. The recipe said to add a whopping two teaspoons of garlic powder to the sauce! I chose to omit the garlic powder this time and I don't regret it, but you may like it so I made sure to note it in the recipe.

These roll-ups were simple to make, though I should add that you will want your chicken cooked in advance or you'll be waiting quite some time to eat. I cooked my chicken during nap time today and had it all shredded up before I ever started dinner tonight. The rolls came out gooey and cheesy and the sauce was ridiculously rich and smooth. The recipe makes nine rolls, supposedly three servings of three rolls per person. I think three rolls per person is a bit much. I eat a lot and I was beyond full after two rolls.

Chicken Alfredo Roll-ups

9 lasagna noodles
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
3 cups mozzarella, shredded
2 1/2 cups Alfredo sauce (you could use a jar of sauce but I'm also including a recipe that was attached with the original post)
oregano
garlic salt (optional)

For the sauce:
1/2 cup (one stick) butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 oz cream cheese
2 cups cream (or half and half)
salt and pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 tsp garlic powder (optional)

To make the sauce:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Once the butter is completely melted and a bit bubbly add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the cream cheese and whisk together until the cream cheese is melted into the butter. Pour in the cream and add the oregano and garlic powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn up the heat to bring the whole mix to a boil, then reduce to a high simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes, whisking frequently to prevent scorching. Remove from the heat and whisk in the Parmesan.

Cover and set aside until ready to use.

While the sauce is working cook the noodles according to the package directions. Once cooked, drain the noodles and rinse in cold water.

Lay them out flat on a baking sheet or on the counter top on waxed paper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8x8 baking dish with vegetable oil spray. (I actually had a hard time fitting everything into the 8x8 so I might use the 9x9 next time. I'm sure either is fine.)

Cover the bottom of the baking dish with about 1/2 cup of the sauce.

To assemble the rolls spread about 1-2 oz of the sauce onto the noodle, leaving 1/2 inch on each end of the noodle bare. Sprinkle 1/9 of the chicken over the sauce. Add some of the cheese over the chicken. Sprinkle the top with oregano and garlic salt. Roll it all up gently, careful not to lose any of your filling, and place it seam side down in the baking dish.