This week I lived through one of those horrid South African incidents to which people’s only response is, “Thank God no-one was hurt”. Too many of you know exactly what I mean! Well I spent that day wondering what I should eat to make me feel better. (I’m a woman, of course I was thinking of comfort eating!) It wasn’t chocolate or my mother’s scones – both of which I adore! – no, I wanted a nice big chunk of my favourite Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne https://bit.ly/1Q6NryA. It was great, just what I needed! I suggest you make it for whatever ails you.
Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne
Ingredients
225g lasagne sheets
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
225g Portabellini mushrooms, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
2tbsp flour
2⅔ cups chicken stock
¾ cup milk
3 cups fresh spinach
3½ cups shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
Method
1 Cook lasagne sheets according to package directions until they are 5 minutes less than al dente. The sheets should have a noticeably uncooked/crunchy centre, because they will cook more in the oven.
2 In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes until onion begins to soften. Add sliced mushrooms to pan and cook until onion is translucent and mushrooms have cooked down, about 5 minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir to combine.
3 Add flour to saucepan to form a roux. Don’t worry if it pulls the mushrooms and onions into big clumps – you’ll break that all up when you add liquid. Cook roux for 1 minute.
4 Add ¼ cup of the stock and stir vigorously to break up the chunks of roux in the pan. The stock will thicken noticeably. Add the rest of the stock slowly, stirring constantly to incorporate.
5 Stir milk into sauce and bring to a simmer. Cook sauce for 10-12 minutes until it has thickened slightly.
6 Add spinach to sauce and cook until spinach has wilted and cooked, about 5 minutes.
7 Remove sauce from heat and add 1½ cups of the Parmesan cheese to the sauce. Stir until the cheese has melted. Reserve the additional 2 cups of Parmesan for lasagne assembly.
8 Assemble the lasagne! Spread a thin layer of the sauce on the bottom of a 23x33cm baking dish to prevent sticking. Lay lasagne sheets down, then a layer of sauce, then a layer of Parmesan cheese, then repeat until pan is full and/or you run out of lasagne sheets and sauce. Make sure to end with a layer of sauce topped with Parmesan cheese.
9 When lasagne is assembled, you can either refrigerate or freeze it, or you can bake it immediately. Whenever you’re ready to bake, do so at 190°C for 30-35 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.