Review and ?: Wild Mushroom-and-Spinach Lasagna With Goat Cheese Sauce

[SactoJD]

Made this on Sunday (with the Tiramisu for dessert). It was fantastic. A bit pricey to prepare because of the mushrooms, but worth it. One question, what was I supposed to do with the mushroom-soaking-liquid reduction. I wound up tossing it back into the mushrooms with the white wine. The only other thing I could think of was to put it into the cheese sauce.

JD

[Maelynn Cheung]

Sorry about that. We had a mistake in the recipe. The liquid is to be added in step 4 when you add the milk. Either way, the chefs say that it should still turn out okay if the liquid was left out.

Thanks for the catch!

Maelynn

[SusanMac]

Just curious about what kind of wine would go well with that lasagna. Do you happen to drink wine? The lasagna sounds very rich. Any ideas would be welcome.

[SactoJD]

I'm a tried and true Zinfandel drinker. But I think we had this with a Toasted Head Syrah. Any good Zin would work also. In response to it sounding heavy, it really isn't because you don't have a lot of sauce. The bit there is is just perfect, and the no-boil noodles help keep puddles of liquid from forming in the bottom of the pan.

JD

[LGBurns]

I made this this weekend. I thought it was good the night we made it but not so good that it was worth the cost (the wild mushrooms are sooooo expensive and the goat cheese wasn't cheap either) and time (it took me 2 hours to make). Plus, I couldn't really taste the goat cheese very much at all, and the leftovers were not nearly as good. Granted, I was not able to find porcini mushrooms and used dried portobellos instead. Also, I guessed at when to add the mushroom liquid and guessed wrong now that I see Maelynn's note (I added it with the wine). Finally, it only makes a small lasagna (an 8x8 pan) which, considering the mushrooms cost me over $15, doesn't really seem worth it to me. I probably won't make this again.

[This message has been edited by LGBurns (edited 04-23-2001).]

[greysangel]

I also made this over the weekend and have to say that it was good but I'm not sure it was worth the effort and money. Omitting the porcinis would make a big difference in flavor in my opinion because porcinis are pretty strong. However I doubled the goat cheese it called for and it *still* wasn't goat cheesy enough...it was like a white sauce that I could have easily substituted asiago for.

Also putting the sauce in the middle layers made it soupy in the middle and dry on top. Next time (if there is one!) I would just crumble goat cheese and mozz in the layers and save the white sauce for the top.

It was good but I was disappointed. It was pretty time consuming and expensive for the final product. I will probably try again seeing as I really love wild mushrooms and goat cheese but not anytime soon http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

JeAnne

[funnybone]

I am thinking of making this recipe, as I have some dried mushrooms on hand. Any once else make it, since this original review?



Wild Mushroom-and-Spinach Lasagna with Goat-Cheese Sauce


Spinach and plum tomatoes mellow the robust flavor of the wild mushrooms and the goat-cheese sauce in this lasagna.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 ounce)
2 (3 1/2-ounce) packages shiitake mushrooms
Cooking spray
1 (8-ounce) package presliced button mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
6 no-boil lasagna noodles (such as Barilla or Vigo)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 cups chopped plum tomato
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese


Directions
Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine the water and porcini in a medium bowl; cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain in a sieve over a bowl, reserving 1 cup soaking liquid. Bring the soaking liquid to a boil in small saucepan; reduce heat to medium, and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Remove the stems from shiitakes; discard stems. Slice shiitake caps.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add porcini, shiitake, and button mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon salt, thyme, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; saute 12 minutes or until softened. Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly with a whisk. Gradually add 1/4 cup porcini mushroom liquid and milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook until mixture thickens (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat. Add the goat cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and1/8 teaspoon pepper, and stir until cheese melts.

Spread 1/2 cup cheese sauce in bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 2 noodles over cheese sauce, and top with half of mushroom mixture, half of spinach, 3/4 cup tomato, 1/2 cup cheese sauce, and 1/4 cup mozzarella. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining cheese sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup tomato, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Cover and bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.


Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 74 minutes
Servings/Serving Size: Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts (per Serving):
375 calories; 44.4 g carbohydrates; 65 mg cholesterol; 13.8 g fat; 699 mg sodium; 22.3 g protein; 479 mg calcium; 4.6 mg iron; 6.1 g fiber