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Spicy Mushroom Lasagna

Adapted from Flavor by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage
The lasagna uses fresh brown button mushrooms (chestnut mushrooms) and oyster mushrooms, as well as dried mushrooms. It's a vegetarian recipe that everyone will love, and can easily be made vegan, too.
It does require a little extra shopping than most recipes, and involves a few steps to assemble. I recast it a bit and here are some tips that'll help you:
-The original recipe called for both dried porcini (90g) and dried wild mushrooms (30g) but I went with 2 1/2 ounces (70g) of dried cèpes. Feel free to use the original mix the recipe calls for.
-If oyster mushrooms aren't available or aren't in your budget, try using a mix of other fresh mushrooms, like brown and white button mushrooms, or using some portobellos.
-If you can't get both Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheese, or don't want to buy both, you could use 4 1/4 ounces (120g) total, of one or the other.
-If fresh basil isn't available, feel free to use another aromatic leafy fresh herb, such as tarragon, chives, or dill.
-I used a Guijillo and pasilla dried pepper for the two dried peppers called for. You can use whatever dried peppers you like, according to your tolerance for heat. If you don't have dried peppers, add a few chopped fresh chiles to the onion, garlic, and carrot mixture. Once again, let your tolerance be your guide when choosing chiles as to how spicy you want it. Yotam and Ixta say they can be omitted if you're feeding kids, or people who don't like spicy foods.
-Because the book is vegetarian, the recipe calls for vegetable stock. Although I'm not normally a fan of bouillon cubes, natural foods stores carry cubes of vegetable stock, which are fine. (I used something similar here.) You could try diluted chicken stock, equal parts water and chicken stock, or just water. If you do try one of those, let us know how they work in the comments.
-Don't eat dairy? Yotam and Ixta say this lasagna can be made without the cream and cheese. And speaking of cream, I am nearly certain this recipe would work with whole milk in the ragù since that's traditional to add to ragù sauces like this. I am going to try that next time. Another option is plant-based "milk," such as almond or oat drink.
-I added a little fish sauce to the mushroom ragù to highlight savory flavor. You can use soy sauce, or omit it if you wish.
-I was cooking from the UK edition of the book, and converted the recipe from the fan-assisted convection oven baking times and temperatures used in the UK edition. If using a convection oven, you may wish to consult the book for precise temperatures.
The recipe takes a little time to assemble so suggest you get all the ingredients prepared and laid out in advance before tackling it. A do-ahead tip is to make the recipe up to finishing the ragù in step 5, and do the final assembly a day or two later.
Course Main Course
Servings 6 servings
  • 2 1/2 ounces (70g) dried mushrooms, see headnote
  • 2 dried red chiles, coarsely chopped and seeds removed
  • 2 cups (500ml) hot vegetable stock
  • 1 pound, 10 ounces (750g) brown button mushrooms
  • 1 1/4 pounds (565g) fresh oyster mushrooms
  • 8 tablespoons (125ml) extra-virgin olive oil, total, plus additional for preparing the baking dish
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt, total
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 8ths
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 4 pieces
  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 3 Roma tomatoes, quartered
  • 1/3 cup (75g) tomato paste
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for serving
  • 3 1/4 cups (800ml) water
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (130ml) heavy cream
  • 1-2 teaspoons fish sauce or soy sauce, (optional)
  • 2 ounces (60g) grated Parmesan
  • 2 ounces (60g) grated Pecorino Romano
  • 1/4 cup (15g) chopped fresh parsley, plus 1 tablespoon for serving
  • 1/4 cup (15g) chopped fresh basil
  • 8-9 ounces (250g) no-boil lasagna noodles
  • To prepare the dried mushrooms and chiles, put the dried mushrooms in a medium bowl and the chopped chilis in a separate small bowl. Pour enough hot stock over the chiles to cover them and pour the rest over the dried mushrooms. Let both stand 30 minutes or until softened. When soft, set a strainer over another bowl or measuring cup and strain the mushrooms, squeezing out as much moisture as you can.
  • Chop the mushrooms, leaving a few of them coarsely chopped, and put the mushrooms back in the bowl you rehydrated them in. Strain the chiles so their liquid goes into the same bowl as the liquid from the mushrooms, squeezing them to get as much moisture out as possible. (You may want to wear latex gloves if your hands are sensitive, and so you don't get chile in your eyes later if you rub them.) You should have about 1 1/2 cups (340ml) of liquid. If not, top it up to that amount with water. Finely chop the chiles and add them to the bowl of chopped mushrooms. Set the liquid and chopped rehydrated mushrooms and chiles aside.
  • To prepare the mushroom ragù (the lasagna filling), preheat the oven to 425ºF (220ºC) and set a rack on the top third of the oven. Working in 3-4 batches, chop the fresh mushrooms in a food processor (or by hand) until they're finely chopped. (No need to clean the food processor as you'll be using it again shortly.) Spread the mushroom pieces on a large baking sheet and drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix them together with clean hands, then spread in an even layer. Roast in the oven, stirring the mushrooms three times during baking, until they are dark, well-reduced, and slightly crisp, about 35 minutes.
  • Finely chop the onion, carrot, and garlic in the food processor (or by hand.) Heat 4 tablespoons (60ml) olive oil in a large skillet (preferably one that's at least 14-inches/35cm wide, with high sides, or use a Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion/carrot/garlic mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft and starting to brown, 6 to 7 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, finely chop the tomatoes in the food processor, or by hand.
  • Add the chopped fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 3/4 teaspoons black pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the rehydrated chopped mushroom and chiles, as well as the oven-roasted mushrooms, and continue to cook until the mixture starts to brown on the bottom, about 9 minutes. (The original recipe said not to stir them while cooking, which I didn't read. Oops. I stirred them a few times and they came out fine.)
  • Stir in the reserved stock from rehydrating the mushrooms and chiles, the water, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it's a thick stew, about 25 minutes. Add 1/2 cup (125ml) of cream and continue to cook for two minutes. Remove from heat and when cool enough to taste, and season with fish sauce or soy sauce, as well as additional salt if desired.
  • Prepare the herb and cheese mixture by mixing the grated Parmesan and Pecorino cheeses together in a medium bowl with the chopped parsley and basil.
  • To assemble and bake the lasagna, preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC.) Spread some olive oil in a 12x8-inch (30x20cm) rectangular baking dish with high sides, or a similar-sized baking dish. Mine has 2-inch/5cm sides and it didn't overflow. If that's a concern, place the baking dish on a baking sheet lined with foil before baking.
  • Spread one-fifth of the mushroom ragù in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle one-fifth of the cheese and herb mixture over the top. Place a layer of the lasagna noodles over the cheese, breaking any noodles to fill in any gaps. Continue to assemble the lasagna, repeating those three steps in that order, so you end up with five layers of sauce and cheese, and four layers of pasta.
  • Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. (The original recipe said to bake for 15 minutes but my noodles didn't quite get cooked thoroughly in that time, but they did continue to "cook" after I removed the lasagna from the oven and let it sit for a bit. But I think adding 10 minutes to the baking time at this point will do the trick. Next time I make it, I'll update that to be sure.) Remove the foil and increase the heat of the oven to 450ºF (230ºC.) Bake for another 12 minutes, rotating the lasagna midway during baking.
  • Finally, turn on the grill or broil setting and cook for 2 minutes until the top is browned. (Make sure your baking dish is sturdy enough to stand up to being under the broiler for 2 minutes. Mine is enameled cast iron and it worked fine but if you are unsure, skip this step. You can check the website for your particular piece of bakeware to find out their recommendations.)
  • Remove the lasagna from oven and drizzle it with 1 tablespoon of cream and and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of chopped parsley and freshly ground black pepper right before serving.