Spinach Lasagne with Mushroom Ragu

Can you tell I like to make vegetarian food? Yeah, I do. I've made a fair few different kinds of lasagne, from traditional mince/cheese sauce to roast vegetables lasagne.  This so far has to be my favorite. Granted, when you look at the amount of cheese that goes into it, you can see why. I'm a sucker for cheese, any kind. This uses three different cheeses. mmmmmmm

This recipe made 2 baking dishes of lasagne, and each dish lasted for 1 dinner plus lunch for all of us. I'm positive that for most people each dish would serve 6-8 people. For us, it serves 2.5 for 2 meals - so 5 servings? yeah, I know. I blame the baby growing inside me. I'm glad I made 2 dishes of it though, because it did take a while to assemble. It is totally worth it though. Soooo good.

Goose noticed the mushrooms and silverbeet in this dish, and although she couldn't taste it she certainly decided that those green leafy things were not her cup of tea. Next time I'm going to chuck all the mushrooms and liquid in the food processor together before putting it in the ragu sauce (my directions will have these changes). I will also puree the silverbeet after I cook it to make it less noticeable.

Lesson learned - never underestimate to discerning eye of an almost 4 year old who doesn't like vegetables!

Ingredients:

For the ragu:
25 g dried mixed mushrooms (1 oz)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 large brown mushroom caps
40 g dried shiitake mushrooms (2 oz)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4 x 425 g cans whole tomatoes, crushed by hand (or 4 x 14 oz cans)
3 bay leaves

For the lasagna:
150 g parmesan cheese, grated (or 5 oz)
600 g mozzarella cheese, shredded (1.3 lb)
1 kg ricotta cheese (2.2 lb)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 large bunch of silverbeet/spinach, loosely chopped and lightly steamed with 1/4 cup of water
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Family pack of instant lasagne sheets (12 ounces dried lasagna noodles)

Directions

Make the ragu:

Soak the mixed mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms in 3 cups hot water until soft, about 15 minutes. Pour the soaked mushrooms and brown mushrooms in a food processor/blender and whiz.
(If you aren't hiding anything, it might be easier to just pull the mushrooms out and chop em - less clean up!)

Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook until soft, about  5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, tomato paste 1 teaspoon of salt and a few cranks on the pepper mill, and cook, stirring, 2 more minutes.

Add the mixed mushrooms; cook about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and the bay leaves; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium low, add 1 teaspoon salt and simmer, stirring a few times, until thick, about 1 hour, 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. (You can make the ragu up to 1 day ahead; let cool, then cover and chill. Reheat before using.)

Make the lasagna filling:

Puree the lightly cooked silverbeet/spinach into a paste with the water it was steamed in, reach in with your hand and squeeze the liquid out.  Pour the liquid into the ragu sauce while it's cooking (it's full of nutrients!) and reserve the leafy greens.
(If no one cares about eating little pieces of green leaf, just chop, cook, squeeze, and chuck in.)

Mix the parmesan and 500 g of the mozzarella; set 1 cup of the cheese mixture aside. Combine the remaining cheese mixture in a large bowl with the ricotta, eggs, silverbeet/spinach, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. For those of you in the US using traditional lasagne pasta, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to the directions. Drain and rinse under cold water; shake off the excess water.

I find it easier to assemble lasagne if the instructions visually look like the layers of lasagne. So below I have ordered the layers in reverse, so you just have to read down the list to add the next line. I hope that makes sense!

Get out 2 rectangle baking dishes (about 9 x 13).
Ragu sauce - 1 cup for each dish (at the bottom of the dish)
Pasta
Half the cheesy/silverbeet mixture
Ragu sauce - 2 cups each
Pasta
Remaining cheesy/silverbeet mixture
Ragu Sauce - 1 1/2 - 2 cups each
Pasta
Remaining Ragu
Reserved cheese

Cover with foil, place on a baking sheet and bake 50 minutes.* Uncover, sprinkle with the last 100 g of mozzarella cheese and bake until golden, about 25 more minutes. Let rest before serving.

*I pulled the second lasagne out at this stage so I could finish cooking it later. If you wanted to freeze the second lasagne for a later date, I suggest following these instructions. Otherwise, you have dinner sorted 2 days in a row!

Original recipe from The Food Network and adapted by me.