Mushroom lasagne

Prep intensive, but delicious!  I know I say that a lot, but really this time.  To scale back the prep work, you could make this a red lasagne instead of a white lasagne and use store-bought spaghetti saucefor the leek bechamel sauce .  I substituted roasted whole mushrooms for one layer of lasagne noodles for dietary reasons, but you could also use 3 layers of noodles and save yourself the prepwork on the whole mushrooms. 

Nutritional info reflects whole wheat pasta, part-skim ricotta, whole milk, about 2 tsp of salt added and full fat gouda.

Lastly, if you're wondering how much of the leek you should use, get rid of any parts that feel like you could never finish chewing them.  Or just cut it like this:

Mushroom Lasagne
Makes 8 servings (1 13x9 pan)

1/2 lb. lasagne noodles
2 lbs. cremini (baby portabella) or white button mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 lbs. whole cremini or button mushrooms, stemmed or 8 large portabella mushroom caps, stemmed
1/4 cup vegetable oil or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp dry savory, marjoram or thyme
1 leek, white and light green parts only, well-washed, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise thinly
6 tbsp butter
6 tbsp flour
4 1/2 cups milk
30 oz. ricotta
8 oz. smoked gouda, shredded

Pour boiling water over lasagne noodles arranged in a shallow pan.  Set aside.

Toss sliced mushrooms with oil, salt, pepper and savory.  Spread on two sheet pans and roast 20 minutes at 375F.  Roast whole mushroom caps for the same amount of time at the same temperature.

Melt butter in a sauce pan and saute leek until softened, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in milk.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium adn cook 5-7 minutes until thickened.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Layer lasagne as follows:

1. 1 cup white sauce
2. Noodles
3. 1 cup white sauce
4. 1/2 roasted sliced mushrooms
5. 1/2 ricotta
6. 1/3 gouda
7. whole mushroom caps (or another noodle layer, if preferred)
8. 1 cup white sauce
9. 1/2 roasted sliced mushrooms
10. 1/2 ricotta
11. 1/3 gouda
12. noodles
13. remaining white sauce
14. remaining gouda

Wrap and freeze.  To cook, thaw.  Bake covered 1 hour at 350F, or until heated through.


Nutritional info Pin It