Mushroom Lasagna
Truly one of the most flexible recipes.
By Erin Henderson
I’m a planner.
I do not fly by the seat of my pants, I do not just “see where the day goes.”
In order for me to have fun, relax, and be at all normal, I must have a detailed itinerary and a colour-coded to-do list with as many things as possible already complete before the occasion begins.
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This is why I lean heavily on make-ahead meals for dinner parties. Having tasks still to complete as guests walk through the door makes me anxious; the idea of being locked away in the kitchen while my friends “talk amongst themselves” makes me itch.
(Trust me, I wish I was totally cool and laid back, like Alison Roman planning Thanksgiving the literal day before, but I am simply not. Just thinking about that laissez-faire, breezy, nonchalant approach to hosting a gathering sends me running to my therapist for an emergency appointment.)
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Therefore, recipes – and full dinner plans – that can be made well ahead of time, keep me cool, calm, and collected – no easy feat, as already explained.
This mushroom lasagna, a very slight adaptation to a recipe I learned years ago when taking my first pasta class led by the inimitable Ema Costantini, is the LBD of dinner. It can be dressed up with swanky cheeses like Taleggio and in-season wild mushrooms like autumn's porcini, chantarelle, and black trumpet, or fresh morels in the spring.
If pricey cheese and wild mushrooms are a bougie bridge too far, Fontina cheese and a simple combination of brown and white mushrooms, portabella, or shitake, equals equally delicious, if slightly humbler, results.
As for the make-ahead bit, you can sauté the mushrooms the day before, even grate the cheese, and keep both well-sealed in the fridge until needed. Lasagna noodles, store-bought or homemade, can be boiled a few hours ahead of time and kept under damp kitchen towels. Bechamel sounds exotic and complicated, but it comes together in minutes.
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Truly, you can mix and match ingredients to create your own culinary adventure: demure and modest, fully opulent, or blend betwixt both, this is a fan favourite on any dinner table.
LBD Mushroom Lasagna
You can make your own noodles for this recipe, and I often do, using this dough recipe. But if you’re pinched for time, good-quality dried pasta, such as Rummo brand, cut down on the workload with equally delicious results.
The lasagna can be assembled up to 24 hours in advance and baked off when needed, making this a really easy dinner party option.
Makes: 6-8 servings
Chef level: Intermediate
Ingredients:
- About 9 pasta sheets, depending on cut and size (I also like to cook a few extra, just in case)
- Olive oil
- 30g dried porcini, or other wild mushrooms
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 50g + 4 Tbsp butter, divided
- 100g fresh chanterelles
- 300g cremini mushroom
- 100g oyster mushroom
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 120g Fontina cheese (alternatively Taleggio for a luxe version)
- 120g Asiago, grated
- 100g Parmigiano Reggiano
- 50g Pecorino Romano
- 4 Tbsp flour
- 500 ml whole milk
- Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Make the Mushroom Sauté (up to 1 day in advance)
- Rinse the porcini in cold water then soak them in hot water until soft, about 20 minutes. Squeeze and chop the large pieces.
- Add the garlic and thyme to the butter in a frying pan. Over moderate heat, fry the garlic and infuse the butter.
- Add the porcini, then the chanterelles, and the cremini. Finish with the oyster mushroom. Season and cook until tender. REmove and discard the thyme sprig.
- Set aside until needed.
Cook Your Noodles (up to 2 hours in advance):
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add a Tablespoon of olive oil, and also prepare a large bowl of cold/ ice water with a few drops of olive oil.
- Blanch the pasta sheets, two or three at a time, into the boiling water, 30 seconds to 1 minute for fresh pasta, about 2 minutes less than the package directions for dried.
- Carefully fish the sheets out of the boiling water and slide them into the ice-water to stop the cooking. When cool enough to handle, layer them between clean tea towels until ready to assemble the lasagna.
Make the Béchamel (à la minute*)
- Warm the milk in a small sauce pan.
- Melt 4 Tbsp butter over med-low heat in a second sauce pan.
- When melted, turn the temperature to low, and add the flour, all at once, constantly whisking until the mixture is a golden paste and smells faintly nutty.
- Add the warmed milk, about a half cup at a time, whisking constantly to ensure a smooth sauce.
- When all milk has been added and the sauce is smooth and thick, season with salt and pepper, stir well, and remove from the heat.
*You can make the béchamel hours, or even a day before, but it is slightly advanced, so depending on your skill level you may just want to make it at the time of assembling. To make a few hours in advance, just cover with wax paper, directly on the surface to avoid a film forming on the surface. You may need to gently reheat and thin out with a little more milk. To make a day in advance, store the cooled béchamel in a container in the fridge, and reheat in in a sauce pan thinning with more milk.
Assemble and Cook the Lasagna
- Preheat your oven to 400°F
- Spread ½ cup of béchamel at the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Cover sauce with blanched pasta sheets, spread with some more béchamel, then mushrooms, then cheese.
- Repeat, beginning and finishing with a layer of pasta.
- For the top, spread remaining béchamel sauce, sprinkle with remaining cheese, dot with butter. (To assemble in advance, cover the pan tightly with foil and keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking.)
- Cover the lasagna with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil, and continue baking until bubbly and golden, 10 to 15 minutes longer.
- Remove from the oven and let rest at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving. (Resting allows it to retain its shape when slicing and serving).
Wine Pairing:
The good news is there are a lot of wine routes you can take with this mushroom lasagna recipe. The bad news is that it can be overwhelming.
For white wine lovers, you can match the richness of the cheese and the earthy quality of the mushrooms with a white wine from the Rhône, which has the silky texture and weight to measure up. If you prefer to brighten the intense dish, a Chablis, with its snappy acidity and mineral notes will work to cut through that richness.
For red wine lovers, wines from Piedmont pair nicely with wild mushrooms. Avoid anything too tannic like Barolo, as this dish doesn't have enough protein to balance the ferocity of the aggressive tannins. You're better off with a juicy Barbera d'Alba with earthy character. Another savoury, and perhaps unexpected, option is a Cabernet Franc from Loire, which has lovely autumnal notes of dried leaves and underbrush, and is also brings a fresh acidity to bring some lightness to the meal.