Vegetarian Delight

This weekend I was at Uwajimaya, a local Asian grocery and gift store (leans toward Japanese) in Beaverton. "What does an Asian market have to do with an Italian casserole?" you ask. Well, it was overwhelmingly crowded there because of the 80th Anniversary sale that was going on--10% off everything in the store, even sale items. Craziness.

Anyway, as I zoomed through the mass of people trying to grab all the essentials (nori, low-sodium soy sauce, frozen smelt, fresh tofu, bread...) before I was late for dinner, I was stopped by the wealth of local wild mushrooms in the produce area. I knew then that I would love living in the Pacific Northwest--thanks to the crabbies, salmon, and wild mushrooms!

I decided to get chanterelles (front) because I love them, a huge lobster mushroom (back) for its firmness, and maitake (middle) for its earthiness. And what better way to celebrate my two pounds of mushrooms than to make a lasagna from scratch. I had been wanting to roll out my own pasta.

So first I made a mushroom stock, then Parmesan pudding, then the pasta, and then the actual mushrooms. Piece of cake. Well, four hours later, Danno and I dove into this vegetarian's delight.

Mushroom Stock:
2 c. onion, chopped
1 c. celery, chopped
3/4 lb. button mushrooms, quartered
2 TB. olive oil
1 oz. white wine
4 qts. water
2 oz. dried mushrooms
5 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Pour oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, button mushrooms to pan and caramelize slowly for flavor.
2. In the meantime, boil the water.
3. When veggies are well caramelized, add white wine to deglaze (remove the bits of flavor from the bottom of pan). When wine has cooked off, add mixture to boiling water along with the dried mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaves. Simmer until liquid reduces about halfway. Taste to make sure mushroom flavor is strong enough.
4. Strain stock. Return to heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Parmesan Pudding (a la Lucques):
2-1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. cream
4 oz. butter
1/2 c. flour
1 egg
1 yolk
1-1/2 c. grated Parmesan
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 250*F.
2. Make a blonde roux. Melt butter in saucepan and sprinkle in flour. Stir with wooden spoon until incorporated.
3. Whisk in milk and cream until smooth.
4. Beat egg and yolk in a bowl. Temper eggs by pouring about a cup of the milk mixture into the eggs while whisking.
5. With everything off the heat, pour egg mixture into milk mixture while whisking.
6. Salt and pepper to taste.
7. Pour pudding/custard into crock and place in a water bath. Cover completely with foil.
8. Bake in oven for 90 minutes or until custard sets.

Hey, you still there? Cuz we're not done yet...

Pasta Dough:
6 oz. flour
7 oz. semolina
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs
2 fl. oz. water

1. In medium bowl, combine flour, semolina, and salt. Make a well in middle.
2. In separate bowl, beat eggs. Pour eggs and water into well.
3. Mix together with hands until all ingredients are moistened.
4. Knead dough on floured surface until dough becomes smooth.
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 30 minutes in order for gluten to relax.
6. When ready, take dough out of fridge and let reach room temperature (15 mins.).
7. Roll with pin to 1/4". Run through pasta machine until correct thickness reached. To check, place hand underneath dough, can you see the pink of your hand through the pasta? If not, keep going.
8. Cut to size of pan.
9. Heat 2-3 qts of water with salt. When boiling, add pasta. When it floats (1-3 mins), it's done. Rinse under cold water. Set aside.

Mushrooms with Leeks:
2 lbs. wild mushrooms, roughly chopped
3 c. leeks, sliced thin
3 oz. white wine
olive oil

1. Cook mushrooms in batches in order to saute mushrooms, otherwise they may steam instead. That's less flavorful.
2. Pour oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add leeks and cook for 3 minutes. Add batch of mushrooms. When leeks and mushrooms caramelized, add 1 oz. wine to deglaze.
3. When wine has cooked off, set aside in bowl.
4. Repeat with another batch of mushrooms. Continue until all are done.
5. Mushrooms should be dry. Add fresh mushroom stock sparingly to moisten.

Wild Mushroom Lasagna:
4 fl. oz. mushroom stock
Parmesan pudding
fresh pasta
mushrooms & leeks
1 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 375*F.
2. Add enough stock to moisten bottom of pan.
3. Place a layer of pasta to cover.
4. Dollop Parmesan pudding over noodles.
5. Spread a thick layer of mushrooms over pudding.
6. Splash 1 oz. mushroom stock over entire layer.
7. Repeat steps 2-5 for two more layers.
8. Place top layer of pasta and sprinkle with cheese.
9. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is golden and lasagna is heated through.

Danno gave it a rating of 9.2 out of 10, so I guess the hard work paid off. I'm going to figure out how to make this a lot simpler. I can't see myself or any of you spending this much time on one entree. Sigh. It was good though...maybe I'll make it for special occasions.