A lucious lasagne which the basil sauce takes to another level !!
2 onions
4 large, juicy cloves of garlic
a thick slice of butter
400g mixed mushrooms (wild, brown, fresh, frozen etc)
Mushroom Ketchup (if possible)
a good handful of chopped parsley leaves
200ml cream
4 or 5 tbsps freshly grated Queijo de Ilha or parmesan, plus 3 more for later
750ml bechamel sauce (either freshly made or cheat and buy your favourite ready made)
5 – 6 slices of fresh lasagne
for the basil sauce
60g pine kernels
50g basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
enough olive oil to make a thick, spoonable paste
4 tbsps freshly grated Queijo de Ilha or parmesan
Peel and chop the onions, peel and thinly slice the garlic and then set them to cook in a deep-sided frying pan with a thick slice of butter.. After 20 minutes, the onions and garlic will have softened and taken on an almost translucent quality. Meanwhile, cut the fresh and or frozen mushrooms into thick slices (frozen ones can be cut with scissors in the pan once they have de-frosted). To make the basil sauce, blitz the pine kernels, basil, garlic, olive oil and Cheese in a food processor, to make a rough and slightly sloppy paste.
Stir the sliced mushrooms and a few shakes of mushroom ketchup if you have some, into the onions and garlic and cook gently until you have very little liquid in the pan, you do need some moisture but not too runny. The mushrooms should colour and soften. then the parsley, 4 or 5 tablespoons of cheese and the cream. Season with salt and pepper and simmer and stir until the cream has thickened.
Spread a few spoonfuls of the bechamel sauce on the bottom of a large dish (I used a 20cm x 20cm square baking dish) then cover with a layer of the pasta. Spoon on half the mushroom filling, cover with another layer of pasta, a second layer of mushrooms and cream, and top with a third single layer of pasta. Gently spread the basil sauce over the pasta, then smooth the remaining bechamel sauce over and cover with the remaining cheese. Bake at 180 C/ gas mark 4 for 50 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Based on a Nigel Slater recipe in Summer 2020