Celebration Lasagne

In spite of a complex preparation and a lengthy cooking process, this is rather easy to put together. A great and impressive dish for parties - it looks fantastic! I simplified the original Chatelaine recipe (Oct. 2008).

Servings: 12
Makes in: 2 hours
Level: medium
  • 300g frozen spinach
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 300g Italian sausages or ground beef
  • 1/2 cup sherry marsala 
  • 700 ml tomato sauce
  • 1 teaspoon each: dried basil, oregano
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • 4 large portobello mushroom, sliced
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 cups mozzarella, grated
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • 12 oven-ready lasagna noodles 
1. Thaw spinach, don't microwave.
2. Microwave wine until hot, 1 min and stir into sliced mushrooms. Leave covered while cooking.
3. Meat sauce:
  • Coat a large frying pan with oil over med. heat. Crumble and break ground beef, cook until no longer pink, 3 min. 
  • Add Marsala. Increase heat to high. Cook till Marsala evaporates, 5min. 
  • Add pasta sauce, basil, oregano. Stir often till hot. Remove from heat.
4. Mushroom sauce:
  • Melt 1T butter in a large frying pan. Add onion, saute till softened, 3min.
  • Add 1T butter, add mushrooms. Add 1t salt. 
  • Stir, cook till wine evaporates, 5 min. Remove from heat.
5. White sauce:
  • Melt 4T butter, add flour. Whisk till golden colored. 
  • Gradually whisk in milk till comes to a boil. Reduce heat till med.-low, whisk about 5min till thickened. 
  • Add nutmeg, 1/2 salt. Stir 1/2 of the sauce into mushroom sauce.
6. Preheat oven to 350. Mix cheeses in a bowl.
7. Spread meat sauce just enough to cover 9x13in baking dish. Layer in the following order:
  • 4 noodles
  • 1/2 mushroom sauce
  • 1/2 meat sauce
  • 1C cheese
  • 4 noodles
  • remaining mushroom sauce
  • scatter spinach without squeezing
  • 1C cheese
  • 4 noodles
  • meat sauce
  • white sauce
  • remaining cheese
8. Lay a piece of foil on top. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 1H. Remove foil, bake another 15-20min. Let stand 5 min before serving.

MAKE AHEAD: assemble, don't bake. Cover with foil and refrigerate up to 2 days. Bring to room temp-re and bake. 

No comments: