Three-Cheese Lasagna With Porcini Mushrooms And Spinach - porcini mushrooms

Method

• Wrap the dried porcinis in cheesecloth tied with string.
• Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until small bubbles form.
• Take off the heat and place the porcini in the milk.
• Let it steep for 1 hour at room temperature.
• Meanwhile, melt the 1 teaspoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add the spinach, salt and a few grinds of black pepper and decrease the heat to medium.
• Cook, tossing now and then, until the spinach has shrunk by half but is still green, about 3 minutes.
• Transfer the spinach to a bowl to cool.
• Wipe out the pan.
• Heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet over medium heat.
• When the butter is melted, add the onion and garlic to the pan.
• Saute, stirring just until the onion softens; add the fresh mushrooms.
• Cook until the mushrooms begin to show some brown, about 10 minutes over medium heat.
• Take the pan off the heat and set it aside.
• After 1 hour, squeeze as much milk out of the porcinis as you can into a bowl.
• Empty the mushrooms into another bowl and discard the cheesecloth.
• Using the porcini-steeped milk, the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the flour, make a bechamel (see separate instructions).
• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat for the pasta.
• Butter a lasagna pan or deep baking dish.
• Cook the pasta and divide the mushrooms into three equal portions and the spinach into two equal portions, and have all the cheeses and bechamel ready for layering.
• For the bottom layer, arrange the pasta starting at the pans center and let the bottom half of each pasta sheet drape over the pans sides.
• Sprinkle one-third of the mushrooms over the bottom pasta layer.
• Sprinkle lightly with one-third of the Gruyere.
• Add another pasta layer.
• Add bechamel sauce, smoothing it over the pasta.
• Arrange half the spinach on the pasta and top with half the fromage blanc, dropping small spoonfuls on top of the spinach.
• Add another neat layer of pasta.
• Repeat with another mushroom and Gruyere layer, more pasta and another bechamel, spinach, and fromage blanc layer.
• After the final mushroom layer, fold over the pasta edges that have hung over the pan sides all this time.
• Give the top a final light layer of bechamel, smoothing it evenly over the pasta, sprinkle with Parmesan, and cover the top with aluminum foil.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and decrease the oven temperature to 350F.
• Cook until the cheese on top is bubbly and starting to brown, another 15 to 20 minutes.
• Take the lasagna out of the oven and let it cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.