FIVE CHEESE SPINACH AND MUSHROOM LASAGNA

FIVE CHEESE SPINACH AND MUSHROOM LASAGNA image

Number Of Ingredients 16

Ingredients

1 pound/500 grams of button mushrooms, sliced
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of whole milk
a pinch of fresh nutmeg, if you've got it (canned if you don't)
6 lasagna noodles (uncooked)
9 ounces/250 grams of ricotta
1 egg
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
3.5 ounces/100 grams of baby spinach
3.5 ounces/100 grams of grated Emmenthal, Gruyère or Swiss cheese
a 4.5 ounce/125 gram ball of mozzarella, torn into bits
about 2 ounces/56 grams of goat cheese
about 2 ounces/56 grams of Parmesan cheese

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C and get out an 8-inch by 8-inch casserole dish. 2. Get out your biggest skillet, drizzle a little bit of olive oil in the pan, and turn the heat to medium. Give this a minute or two to warm up; then toss in about half of your mushrooms or as many as will comfortably fit without crowding (like me, mushrooms don't like crowds, and they'll not get crispy if too many are in the pan). Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and add more oil if you need to, flipping these over as they brown on one side. Cook up the rest of the mushrooms and set them aside to cool. 3. Make your béchamel sauce: Put the butter into a saucepan over medium-low heat, and when it melts, sprinkle in the flour, little by little, stirring the entire time with your wooden spoon. Slowly add the milk, stirring as you do so so you don't get lumps. Add the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Taste. Set this aside, too. 4. In a bowl, whisk together the ricotta, egg, herbs, along with a little salt and pepper. Make sure to taste this, too, to make sure the flavors are balanced. 5. Now, assemble your lasagna. Put a tiny bit of sauce in the bottom of your casserole and spread this around. Add a layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles and half of: the ricotta/mushrooms/spinach/Emmenthal/mozzarella/goat cheese, and one-third of the béchamel sauce. Add a second layer of the noodles and the other half of the mixture, along with a second-third of the béchamel sauce. Add your final layer of noodles, top with the last third of the béchamel, and top with the parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes; remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the lasagna is bubbly. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. You may want to pass the parmesan at the table, because there's really not much cheese in this