Caramelized Onions and Make Believe

Well not make believe, but I did make this recipe up. Presenting Caramelized Onion, Spinach, Feta, Shitake, Chicken Lasagne:


Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 Medium Sweet Onions
I cup fresh Spinach
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts - cubed
10 small shitakes
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup feta
1/2 cup italian cheese (asiago, parmesan etc.)
1/2 cup sharp cheddar
1/2 bottle spaghetti/tomato sauce
10 lasagna noodles - al dente




Directions:

1. Heat oil and butter in a saute pan. Cut onions in half, and then slice them about 1/8 inch thick. Saute them for 10 minutes on a medium/high heat until they begin to soften. Reduce heat to low, add salt, and saute for 45 minutes to an hour stirring occasionally.

2. Right before you take the onions off the heat, throw in the spinach. Let it just cook a bit in all the good caramelized onion oil, let it wilt a little bit, not too much, since you'll be baking it too. Transfer this mixture to a bowl and set aside.

3. Grill chicken in same pan as the onions, it'll pick up all the good crunchy onion bits and flavor.

4. Cover the bottom of a large baking pan with tomato sauce, and begin your layering. You can do this however you want but for the record, this is how I layered it:

Layer One:

-Noodles
-Sprinkle of Feta
-Onion/Spinach Mixture
- a few shitakes
-Italian Cheese

Layer Two:

- Noodles
- Tomato Sauce
- Cottage Cheese
- O/S mixture
- Shitakes
- Italian Cheese

The 3rd (and Final) Layer:

- Noodles
- Tomato Sauce
- Feta
- Italian Cheese
- Cheddar Cheese

Whoo.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-30 mintues, until bubbly and golden.
I love caramelized onions. I would eat them on anything and everything. They give a wonderful flavor to just about everything. When I was a child my grandmother made grilled onions with everything, and I hated it! But I've grown into them, and now I can't get enough.





The finished product.