New twist on old Italian favorite wins Warrior Chef competition

  • Published
  • By Valerie Mullett
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  The first quarter Warrior Chef competition was held April 15 at the Elkhorn Dining Facility. Two-person teams from each of the three missile squadrons and a two-person team from the dining facility went head-to-head in culinary battle for first place honors and bragging rights as the best. The theme ingredient for this competition was pasta. 

Taking fourth place with 200 points even, was the 490th Missile Squadron chef team of Senior Airman Jeffrey Ortega and Airman 1st Class Courtney Charles. They prepared "Pasta Primavera." 

Third place with 202 points went to the 10th MS chef team of Senior Airman Kyle Todd and Airman 1s Class Chariesse Garret. They prepared " Four Cheese Chicken Linguine with Cheese Tortellini's." 

Second place went to the 12th MS team who scored 212 points preparing "Strawberry Chocolate Ravioli with Vanilla Cream Sauce." Staff Sgt. Jeremy Smith and Airman 1st Class Billy Joe Galace made up the team. 

Squeaking out a victory by a single point was the dining facility team of Airmen 1st Class Frank Hernandez and Tanya Cedeno who scored 213 points for the win. They prepared "Mexican Chicken Lasagna." 

The winning recipe follows below and a photo of the chef's and their creation are attached. 

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MEXICAN CHICKEN LASAGNA
3 lbs., boneless chicken breasts
1 white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 4 oz. can of diced chiles
1 4 oz. chopped black olives
1 package Mexican 4 Cheese blend
1 can Mexican blend chopped tomatoes
1 jar medium salsa
1 red, green, orange peppers
1 package taco seasoning or Mexican seasoning
1 package lasagna noodles
1 tablespoon each oregano, Season salt, pepper
1 package cornstarch
Fresh parsley
1 head lettuce
sour cream

Begin by chopping the chicken and placing in a food processor. Next place processed chicken in a bowl. Chop peppers, onion, garlic and olives. In a large skillet, cook chicken with all chopped vegetables. Add 1 tablespoon each oregano, season salt, pepper and taco seasoning to cooked chicken. Remove chicken from heat and place to the side. Fill large pot with water and bring to rolling boil, add salt then lasagna noodles and cook until al dente. Strain pasta and rinse with warm water, place to the side. 

Over low heat, simmer Mexican blend tomatoes and salsa in a saucepan. When well heated, add the diced chiles. Stir together well, keeping over low heat. Mix in ¼ cup cornstarch/water mix to thicken up the sauce. Remove from heat and place to the side.
Remove lasagna noodles from pan and place on clean cutting board. One at a time, lay strips of lasagna out. Take ¼ cup chicken mixture and spoon onto lasagna noodle. Take ¼ cup cheese and sprinkle onto chicken. Roll up lasagna noodle into a tube. Continue this until all lasagna noodles are used. 

Presentation: Take 2 tubes of lasagna and place onto plate. Pour sauce onto tube lasagna and sprinkle more cheese onto lasagna. 

Optional serving suggestion: shred lettuce; sprinkle lettuce and some sour cream on top of a serving of chicken lasagna and serve. Enjoy!!