The one thing I promised myself when I moved down to Melbourne was that I wouldn’t allow myself to become obsessed with comfort food as soon as it got cold. Coming from Brisbane, where the coldest winter temperate is about 16 degrees (Celsius of course), although delicious, warming meals are something you can enjoy, you just don’t crave them as much as you do when you are actually cold. So I figured how hard can it possibly be?
Hard. It is really hard.
When the temperate drops, my body immediately felt like twice the amount of food it usually does. And not just more salad or fruit, I craved warm, comforting food. You would not believe how easy it is to access this type of food too, it seems like every restaurant or café starts serving it as soon as you reach April. So as soon as you walk down any street, you smell the delicious aromas of slow cooked, rich, warming food, and when you are feeling cold, all you want to do is eat it!
So I finally caved and decided that I might satisfy my craving by making something delicious and comforting myself. As you may recall from last weeks blog, I had some friends over and decided to cook dinner for them, so I felt this would be a perfect opportunity to try making something that I have never really made on my own: Lasagne.
I really love pasta, but I’m not a huge lasagne fan usually. I know, that is weird right? I don’t know what it is, but I tend to veer away from ordering it at a restaurant. Perhaps its because I’ve been spoilt by my partners Nona who cooks the best lasagne I’ve ever eaten; but who knows? But with this change in weather, and getting used to living in a colder climate, I’ve craved the warm, comforting meal that lasagne is at its core, so I decided to give it a crack.
However, I did not do typical lasagne. I remembered cooking a recipe with mum once that was absolutely delicious for mushroom and ham lasagne, so I called her up and got the recipe. I figured it was a perfect opportunity to cook something warm and comforting, which also had a bit of a wow factor. I wanted something a little bit fancier than your usual beef lasagne, which is good, but is not making dinner to impress material necessarily (at least the way I make it).
It was actually really fun making this recipe, because I got all my ingredients from my local market: Prahran Market. I made a big effort to get every ingredient from there (apart from the staples such as milk and flour), and it was so great getting to go around and speak to all the storeowners. The pasta lady really helped me out with portions, and the cheese man said I was the nicest customer he would have all day. I love that the gathering of ingredients for comfort food became another part of the cooking experience, and made it that much more special. I feel like I really worked hard on this lasagne, which I am sure made it taste that much better.
This is truly a mushroom lovers lasagne. It’s not full of tomatoey sauce, but instead bursting with the flavor of porcini mushrooms and fresh ham. It isn’t super cheesy, but has just enough Parmesan to complement the flavours. As my mum said, it is a classic Northern Italy lasagne, so don’t expect something really saucy. But I promise you will find a place in your heart for this lasagne too.
Ingredients
- 40 grams of dried Porcini Mushrooms
- 680 grams of fresh mushrooms (I used button mushrooms as they let out less moisture when cooked)
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 90 grams of butter
- ½ small onion, diced finely
- 75 grams of diced Italian tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 sheets of fresh lasagne sheets
- 450 grams of full cream milk
- 60 grams of butter
- 50 grams of plain flour
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 350 grams of unsmoked ham (I used champagne ham), cut into thin strips
- 60 grams of grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for the table
Instructions
- Soak the porcini mushrooms in a small bowl with 450 ml of lukewarm water. Once they have soaked, remove from the water (don’t throw this away) without stirring too much, and rinse a couple of times to remove the grit. Chop into large pieces and set aside.
- Filter the mushroom water through a wire strainer and kitchen paper and set aside.
- Rinse the fresh mushrooms under cold water and drain well, wiping thouroughly with paper towel. Slice into thin pieces lengthways and set aside.
- In a large pan, heat the oil, 60 grams of the butter and the chopped onion over a medium heat. Saute until the onion becomes translucent.
- Add the porcini mushrooms, the filtered mushroom water, the canned tomatoes and the parsley. Stir well and cover the pan with a lid slightly askew. Turn the heat down to medium low and cook until the liquid in the pan has evaporated.
- Add the sliced fresh mushrooms and raise the heat to high, adding salt and pepper to taste. Cook uncovered for 7-8 minutes, ensuring you stir frequently. Once there is no more liquid from the fresh mushrooms, turn the heat off and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit).
- To make the béchamel sauce, firstly melt the butter in a pan on medium heat. Then add the flour, stirring to combine. It will look a little gluggy but that is ok. Take off the heat after about 1 minute of stirring and add the milk, ensuring you continue to stir until combine. Place back on a low heat and add the salt, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and set aside (don’t worry too much about there being lumps in the sauce, they will sort themselves out when you bake the lasagne).
- Butter the bottom of an ovenproof lasagne dish, and line with a single layer of pasta (make sure you dip each layer of lasagne sheet in water before layering if it is fresh). Spread some of the mushroom mixture over the pasta, not worrying too much about full coverage. Cover the mushrooms with a thin layer of the béchamel sauce, and then sprinkle some of the sliced ham over this. Cover with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
- Continue this process until the dish has been filled, and finish the top layer off with a sheet of pasta, covering with a little béchamel, and sprinkling with the remaining cheese.
- Place the pan in the uppermost lever of the preheated oven and make for 10-15 minutes, or until the top is light and golden. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving with some grated cheese.
So there you have it. It isn’t the easiest lasagne recipe you’ll ever come across, but it is certainly one of my favourites! The porcini mushrooms bring a beautiful flavour to the dish, and it doesn’t taste as rich as a regular lasagne as the sauce isn’t full of tomatoes and meaty flavours. Some might prefer a traditional lasagne, but I love that this one has such balanced flavours from the mushrooms, ham and Parmesan.
This dish is sure to impress, and certainly was a hit when I made it. I was lucky enough that I made some for leftovers, and I have one piece saved in the freezer for when I’m craving comfort food again. This dish was so delicious I wish I had made more! But then I probably would have eaten it all by now, so perhaps it is for the best.
I loved the process of cooking this dish, it felt really special making it with ingredients from the market. This lasagne is the definition of the slow cooking movement: sure it takes a while, but you are rewarded for your effort ten fold when you pull this amazing dish out of the oven and cut into it. I can’t even describe how amazing my apartment smelt after I cooked the lasagne, I would make it again just for that!
What food do you turn to when you want comfort food? I need tips now that winter is coming (GoT reference anyone?)
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
