Monday, September 3, 2012

Meatless Monday: Mixed mushroom lasagna



So a little while ago we got a crop of mushrooms unexpectedly pop up in our backyard garden.


And while I love mushrooms, I'm still a bit wary of mushroom soup, so I decided to make mushroom lasagna. THAT, I would never fail to get excited about. Never mind the fact I've never made one before! I just assumed I'd figure it out as I went along, much in the vein of my usual cooking strategy, haha.

I thought sauteeing the mushrooms in some sort of rich stock concoction would be a good contrast to the tons of creamy bechamel I had in mind. I had various cheeses in the fridge, so threw them in at will. I even cleaned out the pantry of a random assortment of lasagna sheets that I had accumulated so it really became a dinner that was quite frugal and useful - grow your own mushrooms and use whatever you have to hand to create a meal! Just my style.... although next time I would use fresh lasagna sheets just because I like them more.

Ingredients:
1-1.5kg mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs butter
handful of fresh herbs (I used tarragon, sage and rosemary)
1/2 tsp each of ground sage and dried rosemary
1 cup red wine
1 cup veggie stock
4 tbsp butter (for the bechamel)
4 tbsp plain flour
4 cups/1 litre milk
2 bay leaves
couple of peppercorns
pinch grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
Assorted cheese - I used feta, ricotta and tasty cheese
lasagna sheets of your choosing
Fresh herbs for the top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200C.

2. Over a medium heat in a large frying pan, melt butter and saute mushrooms, onion and garlic for 20 minutes or so until they're soft and golden.

3. Add herbs, wine and stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Don't be afraid to be slightly heavy-handed with the salt if you've not used a packet stock. It's ok to be a bit on the liquidy side if you're using dried pasta sheets, as they need to absorb some.

4. While the mushrooms are cooking, melt the 4tbs butter with the 4 tbs flour in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir 1 minute. Add milk, bay leaves, nutmeg and peppercorns. Stir continously until boiled and thickened and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaves and peppercorns.

5. Layer the mushrooms and sauce with pasta sheets in between and cheese on top in batches until all are used and you've got a little leftover bechamel for the top. Sprinkle with herbs and extra grated cheese/parmesan.

6. Bake 45 minutes - 1 hour until heated through and cheese is golden brown and bubbling on top.




Linky Bitz
♥ The linky will be up every Monday morning, and will stay up until the following Sunday. It doesn't matter if you eat your meal on a day other than Monday - it's just an easy day to create the link.
♥ Grab the Meatless Monday button above and put it in your post, and even on your sidebar if you're feeling generous!
♥ Visit at least one other blogger and leave some love. This is so much more cool if we're in it together!









11 comments:

  1. Emily @ The Beetle ShackSeptember 3, 2012 at 6:30 AM

    whoop whoop

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kyrstie@A Fresh LegacySeptember 3, 2012 at 8:44 AM

    Love a good mushroom meal. Well done on having them pop up in your garden :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the inclusion of red wine here, yummo! Agree that fresh pasta sheets are better for lasagne, less fiddling around with blanching and better texture.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dinner always tastes better when you've made delicious use of something free, doesn't it? Looks good! Thanks for hosting!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Some one of these days I am going to get around to making these AND to blogging about it...and then I will link up to meatless Mondays!
    In the meantime, I thought I would share the recipe as they look amazing and honestly it could be months before I make them...so if you beat me to it, let me know how they are!
    http://pinchofyum.com/healthy-mexican-sweet-potato-skins

    ReplyDelete
  6. Haha dude, you need some time to just chill. We'll be here when you're ready!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You're welcome! and free food is the best - if only I could find someone to cook it for me too :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. You liiiiinked! I want your fennel. Badly.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kelley @ magnetoboldtooSeptember 8, 2012 at 5:20 PM

    oh god I need this shizzle.

    ReplyDelete