How do you make vegetarian lasagna meaty? Start with 4 types of savory and substantial mushrooms, add in intensely robust sun-dried tomatoes and layer mild-to-sharp cheese throughout. one bite of this incredibly aromatic lasagna and you’ll discover the stretch of the cheese and the might of the mushroom foursome. Look out dr. doom… this is a powerful quartet.

Ingredients

Mushroom Sauce
1 (1.1oz/30g) package dried porcini mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced shallots
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed, gills scraped with a small spoon, sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into thin strips
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup milk
1 cup evaporated milk

Cheese Filling
2 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
12 oven-ready lasagna noodles
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, for topping

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 13×9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

2) For the sauce, place dried porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with 1 cup of hot water. Let sit for 20 minutes or until softened. Remove mushrooms from liquid, rinse and pat dry. Chop mushrooms, discarding any hard stems.

3) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté for 3 minutes. Add porcini, button, shiitake, portobello mushrooms and oregano. Sauté until tender, stirring frequently for about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in feta and sun- dried tomatoes. Set aside.

4) Place flour and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Gradually add milk and evaporated milk, whisking constantly for 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir into mushroom mixture.

5) For the cheese filling, in a medium bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, milk, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper.

6) To assemble the lasagna, in the prepared baking dish, spread a thin layer of the mushroom sauce and top it with 4 noodles. Spread 1/3 of remaining sauce and top with 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Top with 4 more noodles, half of the remaining mushroom sauce and all the remaining cheese filling. Finish with 4 noodles topped with the rest of the mushroom sauce. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese over the top, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for 10 minutes.

Serves 8

Authors of bestselling cookbooks Bite Me, Bite Me Too and Lick Your Plate, saucy sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat love eating, feeding, entertaining and dishing up easy recipes at BiteMeMore.com