MUSHROOM & TARRAGON LASAGNE

Years ago I had the most amazing mushroom lasagne at Carluccio's restaurant however it was then removed from the menu and much to my disappointment, never returned. As I had leftover lasagne sheets from my Spinach, Ricotta & Pesto Lasagne, I thought I would finally try and make my own mushroom one. This is a recipe from Olive magazine and it took around 1 hour 40 minutes to make although you can make it and cook it later or the next day.

Ingredients for 4 people:

4 shallots, finely chopped

Butter

500g mushrooms, sliced (we used closed cup but you can use whatever you like)

1 bunch of tarragon, leaves stripped and chopped (about 15g)

3 tbsp flour

500ml milk

200g mascarpone

6-9 lasagne sheets (depending on the size of your dish)

4 tbsp Parmesan, grated

To serve:

A green salad

Preheat the oven to 180C / fan 160C / gas mark 4 and prepare the ingredients.

In a large frying pan, fry the shallots in a knob of butter until they are soft but not too dark. Add the mushrooms and some more butter, and cook whilst turning continuously. There will be a large pile, however they do reduce. Fry the mushrooms until they are cooked through and golden brown.

Turn up the heat, add the tarragon and cook for another couple of minutes. 

Meanwhile melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan, stir in the flour and make sure it is absorbed before adding the milk over a low heat. Pour in the milk a little at a time until you have a smooth sauce which will gradually become thicker. This took us about 10-12 minutes. 

Season well and stir in the mascarpone. Finally fold into the mushroom mixture.

Next it is time to assemble the lasagne. Start with a layer of pasta, add a third of the mushroom mixture and then repeat to make three layers finishing with a layer of the mushroom sauce. Top with a sprinkling of Parmesan and then cover with foil and cook in the oven for 45 minutes. Finally take off the foil and brown the top for a further 10 minutes.

As my husband and I were cooking this, he repeatedly told me how he didn't like milk, he wasn't keen on mascarpone and he much preferred tomato based pasta dishes. I was just thinking "disaster"!!! Thankfully he was still willing to give the lasagne a go and he was in fact very pleasantly surprised. We both were - we loved it. Pascal even had seconds.....so much for not liking a white sauce. I would really recommend serving it with a salad too. An excellent dish, although I am not sure I can convince my daughter as mushrooms are her number one most hated vegetable!

Like with some other pasta recipes, you can make this the day before which makes it perfect when entertaining. Plus different mushrooms will change the flavour, you could even use a combination. I bet the leftovers will be even more amazing....if there are any!