Chicken Florentine Casserole

I adapted this from one of my sister Hannah's recipes. She is so creative with her chicken. Me, not so much. I usually throw it in the crock pot with some barbecue sauce or roast it, dice it up, and use it in something -- not as a main dish. Hannah's chicken recipes amaze me. You actually have to WORK with the chicken. And I don't really like to touch slimy uncooked chicken. But she has me stuffing, smashing, rolling, pinning, dicing and smothering chicken in savory sauce that's good enough to eat alone. Don't worry, you don't have to do all of that in this recipe. Trust me. This one is good. Real good.

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup butter

3 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

8 oz fresh spinach

4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

2/3 cup bacon, crumbled

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken breast halves on a baking sheet; sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat, and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix in the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half-and-half, and Parmesan cheese.

Arrange the spinach over the bottom of a 9x11 inch baking dish. Cover the spinach with the mushrooms. Pour half the mixture from the saucepan over the mushrooms. Arrange chicken breasts in the dish, and cover with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits, and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the 400 degrees oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve over pasta.