Spicy Mushroom Lasagna

This mushroom lasagna is exceptionally tasty and rivals any meaty lasagna you've tried. You'll need both dried and fresh mushrooms, so hopefully you have access to both. If you can't find dried porcini mushrooms (or if they're too pricey, which they certainly are) just buy dried mixed mushrooms, like I did. This was also my first time using no boil lasagna noodles, and skeptical as I was, it turned out perfectly. This recipe definitely takes some time to prepare and assemble, but it's well worth it. 

I adapted this recipe from here, who in turn adapted it from Yotam Ottolenghi, the master of cooking with vegetables.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 ounces (70g) dried mushrooms
• 1 dried red chile, coarsely chopped and seeds removed
• 3 cups hot vegetable stock
• 2 pounds brown button mushrooms
• 1 1/4 pounds fresh oyster mushrooms
• 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, total, plus additional for preparing the baking dish
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 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 tomato paste
• 1 3/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for serving
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1-2 teaspoons fish sauce or soy sauce
• 2 ounces grated Parmesan
• 2 ounces grated Pecorino Romano
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 8-9 ounces (250g) no-boil lasagna noodles

Instructions

To prepare the dried mushrooms and chiles

1. Put the dried mushrooms and chopped chilis in a medium bowl. Pour the hot stock over them to cover everything. Let stand 30 minutes or until softened. When soft, set a strainer over another bowl and strain the mushrooms and chilis, squeezing out as much moisture as you can.
2. Chop the mushrooms and chilis finely, leaving a few of them coarsely chopped. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of liquid remaining. If not, top it up to that amount with water.  Set everything aside.

To prepare the mushroom ragu (lasagna filling)

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF 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 45-60 minutes. This step takes awhile but is important.
2. Finely chop the onion, carrot, and garlic in the food processor (or by hand.) Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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 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.

To prepare the herb and cheese mixture

1. Mix the grated Parmesan and Pecorino cheeses together in a medium bowl with the chopped parsley and basil.

To assemble and bake the lasagna

1. To assemble and bake the lasagna, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spread some olive oil in a 13x9-inch rectangular baking dish.
2. 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.
3. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream over the top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and increase the heat of the oven to 450ºF. Bake for another 12 minutes, rotating the lasagna midway during baking.
4. Finally, turn on the grill or broil setting and cook for 2 minutes until the top is browned.
5. Remove the lasagna from oven and drizzle it with 1 tablespoon of cream and and 1 tablespoon olive oil.

Serves 4-8.