Staying Fit
Angie Mosier
Makes One 13 × 9-inch lasagne
While in my early twenties, I was in San Francisco alone for an afternoon Giants baseball game at Candlestick Park. I had dinner at Greens, perched on a pier overlooking the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Redwood burl tables filled the room, and chef Deborah Madison headed the kitchen. I ordered the vegetarian lasagne, and I haven’t forgotten the impression it made on me as Greens called me back for many more meals over the years.
Two decades later, I was at a dinner in Florida celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the planned community of Seaside and seated next to a woman who introduced herself as … Deborah Madison. I’m sure my jaw dropped and I was a fawning idiot the rest of the night. Deborah, who had left Greens to focus on cookbook writing, told me about a newer lasagne recipe that Greens executive chef Annie Somerville had created. I tracked down Annie, who had just retired after her thirty-eighth year at Greens, and she shared the recipe with me.
It is involved and time-consuming to undertake — you’ll be making a mushroom sauce, a ricotta custard, an herb béchamel sauce, maybe even a terrific mushroom stock, and then assembling it all — so I spread the prep over a couple of days and stick it all in the fridge, ready to put together.
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Ingredients
For the mushroom sauce:
- ½ ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, cut into ¼-inch dice (about 1 cup)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup good-quality port, such as Ficklin Vineyards
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3 cups Rich Mushroom Stock (page 211, Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook) or a good-quality store-bought mushroom broth
For the mushrooms and leeks:
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large leeks, white parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced, and rinsed well
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground thyme
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound white button mushrooms, stemmed, rinsed well, and cut into thick slices (about 5 cups)
- ¼ cup good-quality port, such as Ficklin Vineyards
- ¼ cup chopped fresh mixed herbs, such as thyme, marjoram, and parsley
For the ricotta custard:
- About 2 cups Black Pepper Ricotta (page 209, Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook), or 1 pound store-bought whole-milk ricotta
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about ¹/3 cup)
- 3 pinches of freshly grated or ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the herb béchamel sauce:
- 2½ cups whole milk
- Several fresh herb sprigs tied together, such as parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the lasagne:
- 3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
- 4 ounces Gruyère cheese, grated (about 1½ cups)
- 1 pound fresh pasta sheets, or as needed
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