Marisa's Healthy Kitchen

Yum! Wild Mushroom Lasagna! Is this not the most perfect, comforting food for a Sunday? This wasn’t just any Sunday, it was the day after the big blizzard in NYC and I had no intention of leaving the house at all 🙂 Although there is still a bunch of cheese in this recipe, I tried to tone down the amounts I used and made it a little more low-fat than the original recipe. But this is definitely a deelish and uplifting meal.  I love mushrooms and especially that decadent porcini taste. Plus of course, this meal also feeds a crowd, at least 8-10 people! So invite some friends over and Enjoy 🙂

Sorry, this is not the best side picture, but at least you get some idea.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna
Adapted from recipe in Gourmet

For mushroom filling

• 3 cups water
• 2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 cup)
• 2 pounds fresh white mushrooms
• 2 large zucchini, diced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons Sherry or White Wine
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For sauce

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups low-fat milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 4 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• eighteen 7- by 3 1/2-inch sheets dry no-boil lasagna (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 pound freshly grated mozzarella (about 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan (about 1/2 cup)

Make filling:
In a small saucepan bring water to a boil and remove pan from heat. Stir in porcini. Soak porcini 20 minutes. Lift out porcini, squeezing out excess liquid, and reserve soaking liquid. In a sieve rinse porcini to remove any grit and pat dry. Chop porcini and transfer to a large bowl. Simmer reserved soaking liquid until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Pour liquid through a sieve lined with a dampened paper towel into bowl with porcini.

Quarter white mushrooms and in a food processor pulse in 3 batches until finely chopped. In a 12-inch heavy skillet heat 1 tablespoon butter over moderate heat and cook one-third white mushrooms with 2 tablespoons Sherry, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and they begin to brown. Add mushroom mixture to porcini. Cook remaining mushrooms in 2 batches in butter with remaining Sherry in same manner and add to porcini mixture. In skillet cook zucchini in 1 tablespoon butter until tender and stir into porcini mixture. In skillet cook onion in remaining tablespoon butter, stirring, until softened. Stir in garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir onion into mushroom mixture until combined. Filling may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Make sauce:
In a 3-quart heavy saucepan melt butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes and whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, and simmer, whisking the whole time for 3 more minutes. Stir in Parmesan, mustard, and salt. Remove pan from heat and cover surface of sauce with wax paper. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring sauce to room temperature before proceeding.

Preheat oven to 375°F and spray or butter a 13 x 9-inch (3-quart) baking dish.

Assemble lasagna:
Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in baking dish and cover with 3 pasta sheets, making sure they don’t touch each other. Spread one-third filling over pasta sheets in dish and top with 3 more pasta sheets, gently pressing down layers to remove air pockets. Top pasta sheets with one-third mozzarella. Continue layering in same manner with sauce, pasta sheets, filling, and mozzarella, ending with mozzarella (dish will be filled to rim). Spread remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with Parmesan. On a foil-lined large baking sheet bake lasagna in middle of oven until bubbling and golden, about 45 minutes. Let lasagna stand 20 minutes. Lasagna may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring lasagna to room temperature and reheat before serving.