Ina Made Easy: Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

 

Who doesn’t love Ina? She makes some of the most delicious food, her cookbooks are wonderful, and recipes simple to follow. Never has she let me down. That said, there are ways to make her recipes easier and less time consuming by taking a few shortcuts.

 One of my favorite things is Ina’s Portobello Mushroom Lasagna, but I rarely make it because it’s a bit of work. I decided that I wanted the lasagna without the trouble, so I made it without cooking the noodles, and instead used No Boil. In my experience, you can use these noodles in every lasagna recipe that you prepare. The thing that you have to remember is that it needs to be refrigerated for 24 to 48 hours to allow the noodles to soften. What this means is that you can make a dinner a couple of days ahead of time and then just pop it into the oven when you get home from school, work, or however you spend your busy days. Another thing I did here, because I like thicker lasagna, was to make this in an 8” x 8” pan. Yes, you’re not going to have as many servings, but the servings that you will have can be cut smaller because of the thickness of the lasagna, and make for a lovely presentation. I found the amount of sauce worked far better in an 8” x 8” pan than it did in a 9” x 13” pan. Trust me on this. I have made this lasagna using the bigger pan, and the noodles that I had to cook ahead of time, and this version is so much easier.

Ina Made Easy: Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

Adapted from Ina Garten

Good olive oil

12 No Boil lasagna noodles

4 c. whole milk

12 T. (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, divided

½ c. flour

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 t. freshly ground nutmeg

1½ lbs. Melissa’s portobello mushrooms

1 c. freshly ground Parmesan

 Separate the mushroom stems from the caps and discard the stems; remove the gills using a spoon (I find a grapefruit spoon works wonderfully). Slice the caps ¼” thick. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 12” sauté pan. When the butter melts, add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and they release some of their juices.

 For the white sauce, bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan;* set aside. Melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute over medium heat, whisking constantly. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add ½ tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg, and continue whisking until mixture, thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

 To assemble the lasagna, spread some of the sauce in the bottom of an 8” by 8” by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, then 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. Repeat 2 more times, layering noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and Parmesan. Top with a final layer of noodles and sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

 Covered with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours. This will allow the noodles to soften from the sauce and taking a day or two heads.

Bake the lasagna in a preheated 375° oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the top is browned the sauce is bubbly and hot. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes and serve hot.

 *Doing this makes the process go faster. Do you need to warm the milk? No. If time is less important to you and the number of dishes that you’re going to have to wash, then use milk right out of the fridge.

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