Spicy mushroom lasagne

This lasagne involves one of two epic ragu recipes in this book — the other is the ultimate traybake ragu, — which, we believe, give any meat ragu a terrifically good run for its money.

This particular ragu pays homage to penne all’Aconese, the first dish that Ixta fell madly in love with. It’s served at Ristorante Pizzeria Acone, a communityrun restaurant in the Tuscan village of Acone, perched at the top of the mountain on which she spent her formative childhood years. The recipe is a closely guarded secret, but the complex, earthy and deeply umami flavour of dried porcini mushrooms is impossible to miss. This is our meatless take on that mythical sauce.

The ragu can easily be made vegan if you lose the cream. It can also be made ahead and refrigerated, ready to be served with pasta or polenta, saving yourself the trouble of constructing the lasagne if you’re short on time.

Reduce the black pepper and lose the chilli for a childfriendly version. If you want to get ahead, the lasagne can be assembled, refrigerated and then baked the next day (once it’s come back up to room temperature).

750g chestnut mushrooms, halved 500g oyster mushrooms

135ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing 60g dried porcini mushrooms

30g dried wild mushrooms

2 dried red chillies, roughly chopped

(deseeded for less heat)

500ml hot vegetable stock

1 onion, peeled and quartered

5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 1 carrot, peeled and quartered (90g) 2–3 plum tomatoes, quartered (200g) 75g tomato paste

130ml double cream

60g pecorino Romano, finely grated

60g Parmesan, finely grated

5g basil leaves, finely chopped

10g parsley leaves, finely chopped, plus

an extra tsp to serve

250g dried lasagne sheets (that’s about

14 sheets) salt and black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 230degC fan.

2. Put the chestnut and oyster mushrooms into the large bowl of a food processor in three or four batches and pulse each batch until finely chopped (or

finely chop everything by hand). Toss the chopped mushrooms in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of salt and spread out on a large, 40cm x 35cm parchmentlined, rimmed baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes near the top of the oven, stirring three times throughout, until the mushrooms are goldenbrown; they will have reduced in volume significantly. Set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 200degC fan.

3. Meanwhile, combine the dried mushrooms, chillies and hot stock in a large bowl and set aside to soak for half an hour. Strain the liquid into another bowl, squeezing as much liquid from the mushrooms as possible to get about 340ml: if you have any less, top up with water. Very roughly chop the rehydrated mushrooms (you want some chunks) and finely chop the chillies. Set the stock and mushrooms aside separately.

4. Put the onion, garlic and carrot into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (or finely chop everything by hand). Heat 60ml of oil in a large saute pan or pot on a mediumhigh heat. Once hot, add the onion mixture and fry for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. Pulse the tomatoes in the food processor until finely chopped (or finely chop by hand), then add to the pan along with the tomato paste, 1 and ahalf teaspoons of salt and 1 and threequarter teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper. Cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rehydrated mushrooms and chillies and the roasted mushrooms and cook for 9 minutes, resisting the urge to stir: you want the mushrooms to be slightly crisp and browned on the bottom. Stir in the reserved stock and 800ml of water and, once simmering, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you get the consistency of a ragu. Stir in 100ml of the cream and simmer for another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

5. Combine both cheeses and both herbs in a small bowl. To assemble the lasagne, spread onefifth of the sauce in the bottom of a round 28cm baking dish (or a 30cm x 20cm rectangular dish), then top with a fifth of the cheese mixture, followed by a layer of lasagne sheets, broken to fit where necessary. Repeat these layers three more times in that order, and finish with a final layer of sauce and cheese: that’s five layers of sauce and cheese and four layers of pasta.

6. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of cream and 1 tablespoon of oil, then cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, increase the temperature to 220degC fan and bake for another 12 minutes, turning the dish round halfway. Turn the oven to grill for a final 2 minutes, until the edges are brown and crisp. Set aside to cool for 5 or so minutes, then drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of cream and oil. Sprinkle over the remaining parsley, finish with a good grind of pepper and serve.

as a side or mezze 85ml olive oil

6 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 Tbsp rose harissa (adjust according to the brand you are using, available at specialty food stores and online)