Vegetarian lasagna - ready to begin
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Author: paula Status: published license cc-by-nc-sa tags: cooking, http://yourneighborhoodlibrarian.blogspot.com/, lasagna, vegetarian lasagna,
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Share on TwitterIngredients:
olive oil
ghee if you have some, if not, more oil
1 medium onion chopped fine
8 cloves garlic minced
2 large cans whole peeled tomatos
4 T capers (opt)
no-cook lasagna noodles
32 oz. ricotta
2 eggs
fresh mozzarella, shredded about a cup
parmesan, grated 1 cup
Parsley, minced
aged mozzarella, shredded about 2 cups
1/2 lb asparagus, cut in thirds and steamed
40 oz mushrooms, half sliced, half quartered
1/2 cup Madeira
1/2 stick butter
4 T flour
2 cups milk, heated
Marinara sauce:
Saute onions in olive oil til golden.
Add 4 cloves garlic minced and allow to cook but not brown.
Add 3 cans tomatos, breaking them up with your hands.
Simmer while you're making all the rest of the stuff.
About half an hour before you're going to turn it off, throw in the capers.
Mushroom bechamel sauce:
Pulse the quartered mushrooms in a food processor til chopped fine.
Saute in butter or oil over medium heat until they give off their water and then until the water is evaporated.
Add the Madeira and keep cooking until that is evaporated.
Meanwhile, melt a half stick of butter in a heavy saucepan.
Add 4 T flour, whisking.
Cook 3 minutes.
Add the heated milk in a stream, whisking. It will look very alarming at first but will soon turn silky.
Pour into the mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste.
Float plastic wrap on the surface until ready to use.
Ricotta:
Beat 2 eggs in a large bowl. Add the ricotta, 1 cup aged mozzarella, the fresh mozzarella, half the parmesan, and the parsley.
Mushrooms:
In a heavy skillet, heat the ghee. If you don't have ghee, olive oil.
Saute the remaining 4 cloves garlic until fragrant. Pull out and reserve in a little bowl.
Then saute the sliced mushrooms in batches til they are golden and have given up the bulk of their moisture.
Take a break. In fact, take a couple days off if you want, this stuff will all keep in the fridge.
Layer the lasagna:
This will vary depending on whether you can fit 3 lasagna noodles in your pan without touching, or 4. However, you should start and end with sauce, and keep some cheese til the end to top the whole thing off. This sequence is for a 3-noodle pan.
Preheat oven to 375
1 cup bechamel on the bottom
noodles, 1/3 the ricotta, 1/2 the mushrooms, 1 cup marinara, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
noodles, 1/3 the ricotta, asparagus, 1 cup bechamel
noodles, remaining ricotta, remaining mushrooms, 1 cup marinara
noodles, marinara, and the rest of the cheese
Cover tightly with foil, tenting if necessary to keep it from touching the lasagna. 50 minutes in the oven covered, then take the foil off and give it another 10 or 15, or until it looks brown and bubbly and gorgeous. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.
Serves 8 as a main dish.
