Meatless Monday – Double mushroom lasagne
Layer after layer of goodness is on way to you with this delicious homemade lasagne. The recipe adds double the flavour with brown and portobello mushrooms used in different ways. It feeds a crowd and will satisfy both vegetarians and meat-eaters!
Serves 8
You’ll need: For the mushroom sauce – 3 Tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, finely diced; 1 carrot, finely grated; 1 stalk celery, finely diced; 4 garlic cloves, finely minced; 500g brown mushrooms or portabellinis, finely diced; 1 Tbsp dried Italian herbs; 700ml tomato passata; 250ml lasagne sheets; 40g grated parmesan
For the Béchamel sauce – 1 litre milk; 75g butter; 75g flour; pinch of nutmeg; salt and pepper, to taste; 6 large portobello mushrooms, sliced; salt and pepper, to taste olive oil; fresh parsley, to serve
How to:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagne sheets and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and set aside in a single layer.
Mushroom sauce:
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until onion begins to brown and softens. Add carrot and celery and cook until tender. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook stirring occasionally, until liquid is released and mushrooms are browned. Season well with salt, pepper and Italian herbs. Pour in the tomato passata and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the sauce is thick. Set aside.
Béchamel:
Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk for a few minutes until the mixture smells like biscuits and is lightly golden.
Very gradually pour the milk into the mixture and whisk constantly until smooth. Add nutmeg, season well, and simmer for 3-4 minutes until thickened.
Set aside. Fry off the large slices of portobellos on high heat in a drizzle of olive oil. Season lightly.
Assembly:
Preheat oven to 200˚C. To assemble the lasagne, spoon half the mushroom sauce into the baking dish, scatter with some slices of portabellos and spread with one-third of bechamel.
Cover with pasta sheets, then repeat with the remaining mushroom mixture, more portabellos and one more third of the bechamel.
Cover with more pasta sheets. Finish the lasagne with the final layer of bechamel and scatter with parmesan. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
* Recipe & image by the South African Mushroom Farmer’s Association.
