GREEN LASAGNA WITH PUMPKIN AND MUSHROOMS

“Years, lovers and glasses of wine; these things must not be counted.” (The Age of Adaline)
Is that the secret to being happy?
They say you have always to cook thinking of someone, otherwise you’re just making something to eat. Every time I cook I think about someone. Most of the time this someone is Luca. This particular time the subject of my thoughts were my friends, their first time in the new house for dinner. The secret to a perfect lasagna is therefore lot of love. Love while your hands are dirty kneading the green dough, love while you’re stripping the pumpkin flesh, love when you sautè the mushrooms. Love that will be reciprocated at the sight of licked plates, as clean as the dishes in the best dishwasher detergents Tv commercial.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8)

For green pasta:

• 300 gr. of durum wheat flour
• 100 gr. of flour
• 3 eggs
• 100 gr. of fresh spinach
• a pinch of salt

For the sauce:

• a Lt. of milk
• 100 gr. of flour
• 100 gr. of butter
•  salt to taste.

For the lasagna:

• 300 gr. of mixed mushrooms
• a pumpkin (with green peel, is the best for this recipe)
• 300 gr. of Taleggio cheese
• garlic, extra virgin olive oil, red pepper, black pepper, parsley salt q.s.
• grated Parmesan q.s.

Matching soundtrack: Paperweight, Joshua Radin

PROCESS

Prepare the green pasta in this way:

• cook the spinach in a pan until all the water has dried;
• once cooked, chop the spinach finely in a blender;
• knead together the eggs, the flour and the spinach puree;
• once formed a smooth, homogeneous dough, form a ball and put it in the fridge for half an hour;
• divide the dough into smaller pieces, so flat them with a rolling pin and then form “sheets” of pasta helping with pasta machine;
• made thin sheets, cook a few at a time in salted boiling water;
• drain the pasta on clean towels or parchment paper.

Now, let’s cook the pumpkin, cut it into pieces, salt and cook in oven at 220°C for half an hour, or at least until it’s become tender. Remove the external peel and blend half of the pumpkin flesh, cut the other half into cubes and set aside.

Put oil, garlic, parsley and chilli in a frying pan, sauté mushrooms, then season with salt and let them cook.

So, you can make the béchamel sauce, :

• melt the butter in a non-stick pan, turn off the heat and add in the flour gradually;
• continue stirring with a wooden spoon until you have removed all the lumps;
• at this point, add a little milk and stir up to obtain a smooth and homogeneous cream;
• add the remaining milk, salt and lower the heat;
• continue stirring until the béchamel reaches the boil and turn off as soon as the sauce thickens.

This is a process that requires a little more time but it’s the secret to no lumps.

Now you just have to mix the béchamel sauce with pumpkin puree and proceed with the “construction” of the lasagna:

• grease a baking tray, put the first layer of pasta on the bottom, sprinkle with some generous ladle of pumpkin béchamel;
• sprinkle also with mushrooms and pumpkin pieces;
• cut into small pieces the Taleggio cheese, add also the cheese and cover the first layer with another pasta sheets;
• proceed in this way for at least 6 layers;
• finish with ground pepper and grated Parmesan;
• bake in preheated oven at 200°C for about half an hour.

Ph. Sara Cartelli
© The Eat Culture