A recipe from Claire Thomson, my go to cook of the moment.
Ingredients
- 10 g dried porcini
- 3 tbsp olive oil or lard
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 4 plump garlic cloves finely sliced
- 8 fresh sage leaves roughly chopped
- 750 g high-fat pork mince about 20 per cent fat
- 125 ml dry white wine
- 800 ml full fat milk
- Zest of ½ lemon
- 2 fresh bay leaves scrunched a little
- ¼ nutmeg freshly grated
- 60 g butter plus more to dot over the top
- 60 g flour
- 500 g ricotta
- 8 slices prosciutto or speck
- 6 dried egg lasagne sheets
- 50 g parmesan freshly grated
Servings:
Instructions
- Place the porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with 100ml boiling water. Set aside to soak.
- In a saucepan over a low-medium heat, add the oil (or lard) and the onion, and cook until soft, 8-10 minutes, then add the garlic and sage leaves and cook for two minutes more.
- Remove the soaked porcini from the liquid, reserving the liquid, and finely chop the mushrooms, adding them to the pan and mixing well to combine.
- Turn up the heat to high and add the pork mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Fry for about five minutes, until the mince is golden in places (taking care not to brown the onions or garlic) and most of the liquid has evaporated.
- Strain the porcini liquid through a fine sieve and add this to the mince, along with the wine, then turn down the heat and add 200ml of the milk.
- Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes, until the sauce is rich and thick and the pork is tender. Season well with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and add the lemon zest. Remove from the heat and put to one side.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6.
- While the pork is cooking, heat the remaining 600ml of milk with the bay leaves, seasoning well with a good pinch of salt, plenty of freshly ground black pepper and the nutmeg. Simmer for around three minutes, then remove from the heat and keep warm.
- To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat, then add the flour, mixing well to incorporate. Cook the mixture until it begins to stick and forms a paste at the bottom of the pan. Gradually add the hot milk (removing the bay leaves), whisking all the time and switching to a wooden spoon as the mixture begins to thicken. Cook over a moderate heat for around 10 minutes, until smooth and thick. Remove from the heat and cover to prevent a skin forming.
- Use an oven dish measuring approximately 30cm x 20cm to assemble the lasagne. Begin by putting half the cooked mince into the base of the dish, then dot with half the ricotta, half the prosciutto slices, and half the lasagne sheets. Cover with half of the béchamel.
- Repeat the process, topping the final lasagne layer with the remaining béchamel. Top with the Parmesan, dot with butter and cook in the oven for 35-40 minutes, until bubbling and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Garnish with fried sage leaves, if you like, before serving with cavolo nero.
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