A Bit Much For A Wednesday, Part 2

Brace yourselves, I’m cooking Ottolenghi again. This time it’s spicy mushroom lasagne, from his latest book Flavour. I don’t know why I keep doing this to myself on Wednesday, although in fairness, there was originally a sensible plan behind this. Husband was supposed to be on a zoom meeting for two hours: I was going to put on a podcast or some music, and have a nice relaxing couple of hours of pleasantly complicated cooking. Unfortunately, husband got the date of the meeting wrong (it’s actually next Wednesday) so I lost my peace and quiet and gained a stroppy sous chef/kitchen porter. Sample of comments made during me cooking Ottolenghi: ‘Why do his recipes have to be so complicated? Why do you have to do it that way? Do you have to use every utensil in the kitchen?’. It also allows him to demonstrate what I have decided is his most annoying habit (not his worst, that’s smoking, just his most annoying):he also follows me around the kitchen, picking up things I have put down, asking ‘Have you finished with this?’ forcing me to stop concentrating on what I’m doing and look up/around, to see what he’s holding up. Bless him, he thinks he’s helping. No matter how many times I tell him he’s not…

Thank you for allowing me to vent that. I’m feeling a bit, well, confined, at the moment, so small things are feeling particularly inescapable, and therefore more annoying. Anyway, onto the cooking. First, take lots of mushrooms. Really lots of mushrooms. For two people, about 500g of mushrooms – the recipe does give specific types, but I used a pack of exotic mushrooms which were on special offer from one of our local food delivery companies. Then, chop them finely, using a food processor or chopper. You could do them by hand, but you’d need more patience than I possess.

A lot of chopped mushrooms, ready for baking.

Toss the mushrooms with oil, before spreading them out on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times. While this is happening, soak some dried mushrooms (again, he specifies, I used the ones I found at the back of the cupboard) and a dried chilli.

The mushrooms after baking

Once your mushrooms have baked, you need to make a ragu with them. Fry chopped onions and garlic until golden (there’s supposed to be a carrot involved here but I didn’t have one, so I did without), then add chopped tomatoes (supposed to be fresh, I used tinned) and tomato puree. After 5 minutes, add the chopped rehydrated mushrooms and chilli, and the roasted mushrooms. Cook for about ten minutes, not stirring, so the bottom gets browned and crisp. Then add the liquid you soaked the mushrooms in, and some water, and leave to simmer for 25 minutes. Take a deep breath, maybe pour yourself a drink, at this point.

Mushroom ragu, simmering away.

But, there is no rest for the wicked: while the ragu is simmering, grate your cheese: half pecorino and parmesan. Just parmesan would probably be fine, but since the husband decided that he loves cacio e pepe we usually have both. Add some herbs (supposed to be fresh parsley and basil, was actually dried oregano). The recipe says dried lasagne, but I had fresh (retrieved from a long sojourn in the freezer) so they had to be par boiled.

When the ragu has cooked down, stir in some cream. Then, at last, you are finally ready to assemble the lasagne. Spread a layer of the ragu, followed by a layer of cheese, then a layer of pasta. Repeat until you run out, making sure you finish with a final layer of cheese. Drizzle the top with some more cream and olive oil, then cover with foil and put in the oven. After 15 minutes, take the foil off, and bake for another 12 minutes. Then, grill for 2 minutes to finish off. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, after which you can finally eat.

The finished product.

Fortunately, after all of that, it was delicious – the husband loved it too, and would like it again…

(The recipe says you can assemble the lasagne in advance and bake when you need it, so next time I might do that).