It's Alive!

Robert and Darryl decided to combine courses with us and create a joint dinner.

We were planning to make a Mushroom Lasagna from a recipe from our new cookbook: Plenty by Ottolenghi. We had purchased a lot of Chanterelle Mushrooms at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. We knew it would be great! We modified the recipe and substituted pecorino cheese for the parmesan. It worked out just fine.

Robert and Darryl brought 2 courses: a Fish Salad with Baby Squid that was light and very tasty. They also brought fresh shrimp. Real fresh shrimp. Extremely fresh shrimp. When Robert opened the package of shrimp he screamed as the not so small shrimps started walking around. They were still alive. He didn’t get the shrimp he thought he was ordering. He got live Santa Barbara Spot Prawns. These shrimps think they are lobsters. Some of them had roe, which I love, and they had lots of meat on them. We sprinkled them with olive oil, salt and pepper and gilled them on the barbeque for 2 minutes on each side. They were perfect! It was fun using our hands to shell them and get to the meat and roe. Robert and Darryl took the shells home to make shrimp stock.

We had eaten a Chocolate Caramel Cake from Proof Bakery and just loved it. We decided that we wanted it for dessert. After Pilates we went to Proof arriving there at noon and they didn’t have one. They know us there, and we asked if they would bake us one. We knew they closed at 4pm. Incredibly they said they would bake it for us just return in 4 hours. I can’t think of another bakery that would do that. The cake is amazing! I am really glad they baked it special for us. Just look at the caramel!

Mushroom Lasagna

Plenty by Ottolenghi

It took the aid of Cook's Illustrated, a magazine for food nerds like me, to enable me to crack the secret for a perfect cheesy lasagne. Serve this with an arugula and tomato salad.

Serves 6-8

1-1/4         oz dried porcini mushrooms

1-3/4         cups lukewarm water

5         tbsp unsalted butter

1         tbsp thyme leaves

1-3/4         lbs mixed fresh mushrooms, sliced if large

2         tbsp chopped tarragon

4         tbsp chopped parsley

salt and white pepper

5         tbsp unsalted butter

1         small shallot, chopped

scant ½ cup all-purpose flour

2-1/3         cups milk

13         fl oz ricotta

1         large egg

5         oz feta, crumbled

6         oz Gruyere, grated

1         lb dried spinach lasagne

5         oz fontina cheese (or mozzarella), grated

½         cup grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover the porcini with the lukewarm water and leave to soak for 5 minutes. Drain in a sieve set over a bowl, squeezing the mushrooms to remove all the liquid; reserve the liquid.

Melt the butter in a large heavy-based saucepan. When foaming add the thyme, porcini and fresh mushrooms. Cook for 4 minutes, or until the mushrooms have softened and exuded some of their liquid, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, stir in the tarragon, parsley and some salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Use the same pan to make a bechamel. Put the butter and shallot in the pan and cook on medium heat for about a minute. Add the flour and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes; the mix will turn into a paste but shouldn't color much. Gradually whisk in the milk and porcini soaking liquid, leaving any grit in the bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and continue whisking until boiling. Simmer on low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thickish. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl mix together the ricotta and egg, then fold in 3 tablespoons of the bechamel and the feta. Add the Gruyere to the remaining bechamel in the pan and stir well to get your main sauce.

Pour boiling water over the lasagne noodles (do this a few at a time so they don't stick together) and soak for 2 minutes; remove and dry them on a tea towel.

To assemble the lasagne, pour one-fifth of the sauce over the bottom of an ovenproof dish that is about 10 x 14 inches. Cover with lasagne noodles. Spread one-quarter of the ricotta mix on top, scatter over one-quarter of the mushrooms and sprinkle with one-quarter of the fontina. Make three more layers in the same way, then finish with a layer of pasta covered with sauce.

Sprinkle the Parmesan on top and cover loosely with foil (don't lay it directly on the surface of the lasagne). Bake for 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling around the sides. Lift off the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until the top turns golden. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.