Day: February 24, 2010

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to visit with Mike Antell at his home in Gloucester.  I heard that Mike was famous for his mushroom lasagna so we decided that it might be fun to do a show while making the lasagna together–and it was!

Here’s the video:  youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1wtSyx20rA

Here is the recipe for the lasagna, including the homemade noodles!  Enjoy:

Mike Antell’s Mushroom Prosciutto Lasagna

For the Mushroom Filling:
2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for buttering serving dish
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup thinly sliced shallot
2 lb. fresh mushrooms (button, crimini), cleaned and thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped San Marzano tomatoes
4 tablespoons chopped parsley, divided
6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into smaller pieces
salt & pepper to taste

For the Bechamel sauce:
2 cups whole milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour

For the pasta:
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling lasagna
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 large eggs, at room temperature

Reconstitute porcini mushrooms. Heat 2 cups water to boil and add 2 oz. porcini mushrooms. Let steep for 30 minutes. Strain water through paper towels three times reserve.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt 3 tablespoons butter with oil. Add shallot and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add reconstituted mushrooms, reserved liquid, tomatoes and 3 tablespoons chopped parsley. Stir, cover and cook down until liquid has evaporated. Add sliced fresh mushrooms and season with salt and pepper to taste. Increase heat to high and continue to cook covered until all liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, scald milk. Melt the butter in another medium saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook over medium low heat for two minutes and remove from heat. While whisking continuously, slowly add scalded milk, about 3 tablespoons at a time, to the flour mixture. Return pan to heat and continue to whisk until mixture forms a thick syrupy consistency, about 7-10 minutes. Cover and set aside.

With blade in place, add flour to the bowl of a food processor. While running, add eggs and olive oil. Process until dough forms a ball, adding water one tablespoon at a time if necessary. Flour counter top and place dough ball on surface. Knead dough until a smooth ball forms, about ten minutes. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour before rolling.

To form lasagna noodles, break off a golf ball size of dough. Press ball into a disc shape and flour both sides. Run the dough round through the pasta maker beginning with the first (largest) setting and going until the last or thinnest setting. If dough is sticky, sprinkle with additional flour. Cut resulting dough strips into large squares and place on cotton towels to dry. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil over high heat. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes and set aside. Boil pasta for about thirty seconds and immediately place noodles in ice water. When cool, remove lasagna from ice water and place back on cotton towels to dry, patting noodles dry with another towel.

To assemble the lasagna, butter a large 9″ x 13″ or larger casserole dish. Spoon 2-3 tablespoonfuls of bechamel sauce and spread to cover the bottom of the baking dish. Place a layer of noodles on top of bechamel to cover. Combine bechamel and mushroom filling and mix well. Spread a layer of mixed filling over noodles and top with one tablespoon grated cheese and a layer of torn prosciutto. Top with grated cheese and torn sheets of prosciutto. Repeat with remaining pasta, filling, all but one tablespoon cheese and prosciutto.

Melt remaining 6 tablespoon butter and set aside. When top noodle layer is added, brush on melted butter, sprinkle on remaining one tablespoon cheese and remaining chopped parsley.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover lasagna with foil and bake until bubbling, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove foil for the last 5 minutes of baking.