Angela's Italian Recipe for Wild Mushroom and Three Cheese Lasagne

Wild Mushroom and Three Cheese Lasagne
(Lasagne con Tre Formaggi e Funghi Selvatici)


Ingredients:

For the Sauce:
One (7/8 to 1 ounce) package dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup hot water
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
12 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
6 to 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, sliced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
1/8 teaspoon dried crush red pepper
1/2 cup dry red wine
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes with added puree

For the Filling:
Two 15-ounce containers ricotta cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano cheese (about 1 and 1/2 ounces)
1/3 cup prepared pesto sauce
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

12 (about) lasagne noodles
20 ounces soft mild goat cheese (such as Montrachet), crumbled
1 tomato, seeded, chopped
Fresh basil or rosemary

Directions:

For the Sauce:
Rinse porcini mushrooms briefly under cold water.

Place in small bowl.

Pour 1 cup hot water over and let soak 30 minutes to soften. Remove mushrooms from soaking liquid, squeezing excess liquid back into bowl; reserve soaking liquid.

Chop mushrooms, discarding any hard stems. Heat olive oil in heavy Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add onion and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add porcini, button and shiitake mushrooms and garlic.

Saute until mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add rosemary and crushed red pepper and saute 30 seconds.

Add wine. Pour in reserved mushroom soaking liquid, leaving any sediment behind.

Increase heat to high and boil until liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add canned tomatoes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

For the Filling:
Combine ricotta cheese, Parmigiano cheese and pesto in medium bowl.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in eggs and yolk. (Sauce and filling can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.) Cook pasta in pot of boiling salted water until 'al dente', stirring occasionally. Drain.

Rinse under cold water to cool; drain. Oil 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.

Spread 1/4 of sauce over bottom of dish. Arrange 3 or 4 noodles over, trimming to fit as necessary. Spread half of filling over.

Spoon 1/4 of sauce over.

Sprinkle with 1/3 of goat cheese. Top with 3 or 4 noodles, trimming to fit. Spread remaining filling over noodles. Spoon 1/4 of sauce over.

Sprinkle with 1/3 of goat cheese. Top with 3 or 4 noodles, trimming to fit. Press gently to compact.

Spread with remaining sauce.

Sprinkle with remaining goat cheese. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let lasagne stand 1 hour at room temperature before continuing.) Preheat oven to 350° F. Cover lasagne with foil and set on baking sheet.

Bake 35 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until sauce bubbles and cheese melts, about 35 minutes. Garnish with tomato and let stand 15 minutes.

Garnish with herbs and serve. Serves 8.