Wild Mushroom Lasagna
My version of this elegant lasagna is inspired by a recipe from Greens restaurant in San Francisco. I have been making this for years and it is always a favorite for a fall dinner. The dry and fresh mushrooms add a distinctive earthy, nutty umami flavor that is gorgeous from the first bite.
Ingredients
-1 lb lasagna noodle, cooked or 2 recipes homemade pasta with the noodles rolled out to a thin
-1 Parmesan cheese, Asiago or dry jack cheese
-fresh mozzarella ball torn into small pieces or roughly sliced
-1⁄2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
-4 tablespoons good butter
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2 bay leaves
-1small onion, finely diced
-2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced
-4 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried
-1 tablespoon fresh marjoram, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
-1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped
-1 1⁄2lbs assorted fresh wild mushrooms, sliced
-3 garlic cloves, grated
-salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
-4 tablespoons tomato paste
The Bechamel
-3 tablespoons butter
-1 tablespoon minced shallots
-3 tablespoons flour
-2 1⁄2 cups milk
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-a few fresh nutmeg scrapings
-salt and white pepper, to taste
Method
Cover the dried mushrooms with 1 cup boiling water and let them sit for 20 minutes. Squeeze them dry, saving the soaking liquid, and roughly chop them into small pieces.
Warm the butter and olive oil with the bay leaves over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and herbs, raise the heat, and cook briskly, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes.
Add the sliced fresh mushrooms, the garlic, and the dried mushrooms. Season with salt and cook 3 minutes, then add the soaking liquid from the mushrooms and the tomato paste. Cook until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid in the pan is slightly reduced, and juice remains on the bottom of the pan. Season with pepper and salt, if needed.
For the bechamel, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the shallot, and cook slowly until it is soft. Stir in the flour to make a roux and cook gently over a low heat for 3-4 minutes, then set it aside to cool. Combine the milk and the cream, and heat nearly to the boiling point, then whisk into the cooled roux. Return the pot to the heat and cook 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with a few scrapings of nutmeg, and salt and white pepper to taste.
Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 9X13" baking pan. Pour 1/2 c of bechamel in the bottom, then lay down enough cooked lasagna noodles to cover the bottom of the pan. Spread another 1/2 c of bechamel on the pasta layer, a quarter of the mushrooms, and some grated cheese along with scattered thin slices of the mozzarella. Repeat in this order, making four layers in all.
The top layer should be pasta covered with bechamel and slices of fresh mozzarella.
Cover the lasagna loosely with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is puffed and browned, for about 25 minutes.
Allow the lasagna to rest for about 10 minutes before cutting.
Wine Pairings
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy
Bordeaux Supérieur (Red), France
Chardonnay, Carneros