Recipe #29 - Wild Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna

A lot of lasagna is made with tomato sauce and some form of meat. This one is a bit different in that it has neither. Instead, it makes use of a rich mushroom sauce laced at the last minute with spinach.

The rest of the dish is straightforward lasagna, with layered flat noodles and cheese, with the whole thing baked until bubbly. If you added some tuna and peas to this, you'd have a deconstructed (reconstructed?) tuna casserole!

1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil
12 dried lasagna noodles

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
6 green onions, trimmed, cleaned and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
1/2 lb. mixed wild mushrooms (chanterelle, portobello, shiitake, oyster), roughly chopped

3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 cups low-fat milk

1 lb. fresh baby spinach leaves, cleaned, stemmed and roughly chopped
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil

2 cups shredded parmesan or asiago cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese



Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add salt, oil and lasagna pasta. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or al dente. Drain and toss pasta with a little olive oil so it doesn't stick, and set aside.

In a wok or large saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil. When it's hot, add the shallots, scallions and garlic, and stir-fry for a few minutes. Add all the mushrooms and cook for about eight minutes, until they've given off their juices and the juices have mostly evaporated.

Add the flour, salt and pepper, and stir thoroughly to incorporate the flour with the vegetables. Slowly add the milk and cook the sauce over medium heat until it's thickened considerably and bubbly. Add the spinach and basil and cook for a couple minutes more, until wilted. Remove from heat.

Spray a two-inch-deep 9-by-13 baking dish with cooking spray. Coat the bottom with the mushroom-spinach sauce, top with 1/2 cup cheese, and top that with three lasagne noodles laid next to one another. Repeat the layering, finishing with sauce and cheese. Put the mozzarella over the top of the whole thing and put in the preheated oven. Bake the lasagna for about 30 minutes until it's hot and bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so before serving.

We had this with steamed broccolini and a green salad with roasted garlic-buttermilk dressing. But it goes with just about any kind of accompaniment, including garlic bread, Caesar salad, steamed asparagus, you name it.