Wild Mushroom Lasagne Recipe
Last Summer and Autumn my partner James, a master mushroom forager, was enjoying a particularly bumper season, bringing to the kitchen table, the most extraordinary array of wild fungi. So much so that we found ourselves often working late into the night, pickling, brining, blanching, freezing, slow cooking and even drying mushrooms over our wood burning stove…a labour of love indeed, but one which has sustained us with extremely delicious meals throughout the winter.
This lasagne is our adaptation of Ottolenghi’s Spicy Mushroom version and is probably the most delicious lasagne I’ve ever eaten. Even dedicated carnivores have commented on its glorious flavour.
Depending on what your foraging trug comes home with, you can adapt the recipe accordingly.
The trick in making the ragù is to be patient and give the mushrooms a chance to caramelise in the pan and develop that gorgeous umami, savouriness.
The ragù can easily be made vegan if you don’t add the cream. It’s also delicious on its own, served with pasta or rice and can be made in advance, refrigerated overnight or even make a few batches for the freezer ready for that dinner party dish or special occasion you just want to wow people with.
You can cut down on the black pepper and omit the chilli for a child-friendly version.
Ingredients.
| 750g | field mushroom or similar e.g., Chestnut. |
| 500g | oyster mushrooms or any other soft woodland type such as saffron milk caps, ceps, russulas or even beefsteak fungi |
| 135ml | olive oil, plus extra for greasing |
| 60g | dried porcini mushrooms (ceps) |
| 30g | dried wild mushrooms (any) |
| 2 | dried red chillies, roughly chopped (deseeded for milder result) |
| 500ml | vegetable stock |
| 1 | onion, peeled and quartered |
| 5 | garlic cloves, roughly chopped |
| 1 | carrot, medium sized, peeled and quartered (90g) |
| 2–3 | plum tomatoes, quartered or a tin (200g) |
| 75g | tomato puree |
| 130ml | double or single cream depending on how rich you’d like the ragù |
| 60g | Parmesan, finely grated |
| 5g | basil leaves, finely chopped |
| 10g | parsley leaves, finely chopped, plus an extra tsp to serve |
| 250g | dried lasagne sheets (that’s about 14 sheets) |
| 5g | salt and 30 grinds of black pepper |
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 230°C fan.
2. Pulse the field or chestnut mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped or you can do this by hand. In a large bowl mix with a teaspoon of sea salt and 3 tablespoons of olive oil then spread the mixture out on a large baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 30 minutes in the hot oven and stir two or three times throughout. They will shrink in size and significantly.
3. In the meantime you can mix the dried mushrooms, dried chillies in a bowl and cover with hot vegetable stock for 30 minutes. Then strain the liquid and keep it to one side, squeezing the mushrooms out as much as possible. Then finely chop the chillies and roughly chop the rehydrated mushrooms.
4. Now pulse the carrot, garlic and onion in the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (or by hand). On a medium heat sauté 60ml of oil in a large pan. Then add the onion mixture to the hot oil and fry for 10 minutes, occasionally stirring until golden and soft. Now add the tomatoes to the food processor to finely chop (or by hand), then add with the tomato paste and 1½ teaspoons of salt and 30 grinds of black peppercorns to the pan.
Cook for 10 minutes stirring at intervals. Add the chillies and rehydrated mushrooms and then the roasted mixture to the pan and cook for another 10 minutes.
Here’s where you need to stir less as the mushroom mixture will start to caramelize and crisp at the bottom of the pan, adding to the umami flavour of the ragù.
When simmering, reduce the heat and cook at a medium temperature for about 30 minutes. Stir regularly until you get the right consistency. Add hot water if it begins to reduce too much.
Finally stir in 100ml of cream, simmering for a further 3 minutes only.
5. Now mix the parmesan with the chopped basil and parsley and begin with a shallow layer of the ragù sauce, then the grated parmesan cheese followed by lasagne strips. Continue layering and top the dish with a last coat of cheese and herbs. You should have at least four layers of pasta.
6. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil and a tablespoon of cheese, then cover with silver foil before baking in a hot oven (220c fan), initially for 15 minutes before removing the foil and finishing for another 15. Try to remember to turn the dish around halfway through baking. Finally grill the top for a couple of minutes until the edges are browned.
Set to one side to cool for 4 or so minutes, then drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of oil and cream. Finish with a good grind of pepper and the remaining chopped parsley and serve.
If you’d like to learn how to identify edible fungi and wild mushrooms and other ways to prepare them for the dinner table, why not book one of our intensive foraging workshops with the Resilient Life Fungi Foragers UK