Lasagna with wild garlic and mushrooms

Working with The University of Sheffield

Season: Spring

Get your hands on some luscious wild garlic before the season is over. Rachel B made this lasagna last week and was entranced by the lurid green of the ‘white’ sauce. Recipe from bbcgoodfood.com.

If you don’t have 450g mushrooms, supplement with grated courgette, carrot and/or some finely sliced leek.

Don’t have time to mess about with lasagna? Here’s a quick alternative. Make a simple spaghetti sauce by sauteeing chopped mushrooms and cherry tomatoes in butter and a dash of white wine. Stir in and wilt lots of chopped wild garlic. Season well, then stir the cooked spaghetti through the mix with plenty of EV olive oil, grated parmesan and chopped parsley.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

450g sliced chestnut mushrooms (supplement with grated courgette or other veg if you need to)

2 shallots or 1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

100ml white wine

2 tbsp tomato purée

50g wild garlic roughly chopped

800ml milk

100g unsalted butter

75g plain flour

1 tsp mustard powder

grating of nutmeg

100g extra mature cheddar, grated

25g parmesan, grated

150g mozzarella, grated

175g fresh lasagne sheets

Method

Heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat in a shallow flameproof casserole or ovenproof frying pan (25cm wide). Fry the mushrooms for 7-10 mins until browned. Stir in the shallots/onion and garlic, cook for a few more mins until fragrant.

Pour in the wine and tomato purée and bubble until reduced and thickened. Season well. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Blitz the wild garlic and milk in a blender until the garlic is finely chopped. Transfer to a jug.

Heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. When bubbling, add the flour, mustard and nutmeg, and stir to a paste. Cook for 3-4 mins until slightly darkened.

Add milk mixture gradually, whisking well. Bring to a simmer, whisking continuously. Once simmering, whisk for 5 mins or until smooth and thick. Season to taste.

Mix the three cheeses in a bowl. Transfer two-thirds of the mushrooms from the casserole to a bowl. Spread out the remaining mushrooms evenly over the base of the casserole.

Pour over a quarter of the white sauce, top with a quarter of the cheese and layer over the pasta sheets – about four sheets in each layer. Repeat this twice more. On the final layer of pasta, pour over the last of the sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins until golden and bubbling. Leave to stand for 10 mins before serving.