Hazelnut Pesto Mushroom Lasagna

Ari Rapkin

This recipe is very approximate... if some of the amounts specified seem too large or too small, use your judgement. I'll try to correct this file when I try this recipe myself.

Pesto sauce
1 bunch of spinach, cleaned and destemmed
2 large bunches of basil cleaned and destemmed
2-3 cloves of garlic
~ 1 tsp hazelnut oil
~ 1/4 cup olive oil
a little lemon juice
~ 1/2 cup of water

Blend this well, adding a little bit of spinach or basil at a time. You want it to be about the consistency of tomato sauce. Set it aside, then clean your blender or food processor.

Mushroom sauce
1/2-1 lb sliced mushrooms
3-4 Tbsp butter
2-3 cups milk
1-2 Tbsp flour
dried bits of chantrelles (optional)
splash of red wine

Saute mushrooms in 2-3 Tbsp butter. Cook them long and slowly until they're well cooked but don't cook out all the juices. Move the mushrooms to the blender and puree. Add a little milk as necessary. Use the left over mushroom juice in the pan and remaining butter to make a roux with flour. Add milk to make a white sauce. Add the mushroom puree, and chantrelles if desired. Add wine. Cook slowly until it's thickened. Should be about as thick as the pesto, maybe a little thicker.

Baked garlic
2 heads of garlic
olive oil

Peel and chop in half 2 heads worth of garlic cloves. Put in a casserole dish, cover well with olive oil and bake until a little browned on top and cooked through. Bake at about 350F. Should take 20-40 minutes.

The Lasagna

large container of ricotta
2 lbs (or a little less) of grated Mozzarella
1 package montrachet or other soft goats milk cheese. (optional)
4 sheets of fresh pasta (these are 12"x12" sheets) or slightly cooked regular lasagna noodles.
1 cup toasted, skinned, chopped hazelnuts.

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cut the noodles to fit a 9x13 (standard large) glass baking dish.

Layer in this order:

pesto sauce
noodles
ricotta and montrachet
noodles
mushroom sauce (use it all unless it's too much)
baked garlic
noodles
Mozzarella and hazelnuts
noodles
pesto sauce
noodles
ricotta and montrachet
noodles
pesto sauce and Mozzarella and hazelnuts

This should fill the pan. If you're using fresh sheets of pasta, don't cut them into pieces other than just to fit them in the pan. Use lots of sauce in the layers since the sauce is what cooks the noodles.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until slightly browned on top. If you bake it a little long (which is fine) it'll probably puff up and really looks spectacular when it comes to the table. It can also sit for 30 minutes or so and still be fine.

From the Dinner Co-op