spicy mushroom ragu but make it lasagna

revisiting and repurposing one of my favorite recipes

one of the downsides about developing recipes for a living is that i rarely have the chance to revisit and recook them. once i’ve developed any given recipe, which involves testing and tweaking a few versions in a relatively short span of time, i get it ready for publishing. once it’s published, i move on to the next recipe, leaving me with no real time to make it again and enjoy the results of my efforts.

every once in a while i’ll crave a specific recipe (this one has been on my mind recently) or someone will request something and i’ll make it, but because i’m developing at least one recipe per week, i’m often just stuck in the process, looking ahead, thinking through new ideas, doing research, testing and developing.

one of my goals this year was to take the time to revisit some of my favorite recipes, to enjoy them and cherish them, because i love them and even though you might think i make them for you, i really make them for me. lol.

a few weeks ago, i remade my coconut and grapefruit poppyseed cake. then i raided my pantry and used the remnants of a bag of dried shiitake mushrooms to whip up a big batch of a spicy mushroom ragu i first made about four years ago, then adapted as the base for my vegetarian shepherd’s pie last year. i set some of it aside to serve with udon noodles for an easy, lazy weeknight dinner and layered the rest with plenty of creamy béchamel into a big, comfy lasagna.

the result was a perfectly sliceable, savory, rich, subtly spicy and deeply satisfying lasagna. it was just what i wanted to tuck into on a cold, gray berlin evening, curled under a blanket on my couch and i thought maybe the “royal you” would like it too. so i got to work and made it again, adjusting the flavors a little and adding the extra warmth of some cinnamon to complement the mushrooms and ragu.

the soaked, dried shiitake mushrooms are what give this ragu its pleasing meaty texture, but if you can’t find them, forgot to soak them or just don’t want to use them, swap them out with more button mushrooms. you’ll lose a little bit in both the flavor and texture department, but it will still be very tasty.

when i’ve made this ragu in the past, i’ve used solely gochujang and chunjang (a korean-chinese fermented black bean paste) as the base, but i adapted this version to include tomato paste as well. you can sub out the tomato paste with gochujang or vice versa, but if you don’t have chunjang, i’d recommend getting some—there is no substitute, it’s one of those things you can keep in the fridge just about forever and you can make other great dishes with it.

for this recipe, i highly recommend using a food processor to keep the prep effort low. i just toss the peeled, quartered vegetables in and pulse them into pieces a little smaller than bite-sized (the recipe says “roughly finely chopped” which i hope makes some kind of sense, although maybe bean-sized is a better term? if you have thoughts, let me know in the comments), transfer them to a bowl, and do the next batch. it’s very simple and quick this way, but of course, if you don’t have a food processor, you can chop the vegetables by hand, just get comfy at your chopping board and put a podcast or some music on to keep you company.

this lasagna can be made with homemade or dried lasagna noodles. funny story, as i was filming the video for this recipe, which will be published here in a few days, i made fresh pasta to use for it, but as i was rolling it out, by hand, sweating, i realized a few things: the pasta might be a bit under-hydrated as it’s super difficult to roll out, it’s not nearly enough to make a nice 3 or 4 layer lasagna, and i should invest in a pasta machine if i plan on ever making homemade pasta again. all of this to say, i’m not a homemade pasta expert, but if you are, use this recipe to show off!

if you do decide to use homemade pasta, i would recommend giving it a quick boil instead of layering the sheets in uncooked, otherwise they may soak up too much of the sauce during baking and lead to a dry lasagna.

---

this time two years ago:

---

spicy mushroom ragu lasagna

serves 4 - 6

for the spicy mushroom ragu

75 grams dried shiitake mushrooms (substitute: 150 grams fresh shiitake or button mushrooms)

300 grams carrots

1 large yellow or red onion

10 cloves garlic

250 grams button mushrooms

60 ml olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cinnamon stick

50 grams gochujang

50 grams tomato paste

50 grams chunjang

50 ml soy sauce

for the béchamel

65 grams salted butter

75 grams all-purpose flour

665 ml whole milk, warm

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground white pepper (substitute: freshly ground black pepper)

to assemble

200 grams lasagna noodles (dried or fresh; boil the fresh to al dente before using)

30 grams freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

minced chives

1. the day before you want to make the ragu, add 75 grams dried shiitake mushrooms to a large bowl and cover with water. let soak for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours.

2. after soaking, drain the shiitake (keeping the water for later use) and add to a food processor. pulse until roughly finely chopped (aim for a mix of some larger and smaller pieces) and transfer to a large bowl. peel 300 grams carrots, 1 large onion and 10 garlic cloves. quarter the onion and roughly chop the carrots into large pieces, add to the food processor and pulse until roughly finely chopped, then transfer to the bowl. brush any dirt off 250 grams button mushrooms, quarter or halve if they’re especially large, and repeat the chopping process.

3. add 60 ml olive oil to a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. add all the chopped vegetables, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 cinnamon stick and let cook, stirring often, until softened and visibly reduced, about 20 minutes. in the meantime, add 50 grams each of gochujang, tomato paste, chunjang and soy sauce to a bowl and stir until well combined and smooth.

4. once the vegetables are ready, add the gochujang mixture and 500 milliliters of the shiitake-soaking water (use plain water or broth if you don’t have any soaking water) and bring to a simmer. reduce heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally. preheat the oven at 200°C/390°F, while you make the béchamel.

5. melt 65 grams salted butter in a small saucepan. add 75 grams flour and cook, stirring constantly to form a roux. stream in 665 ml warm milk bit by bit, whisking constantly. once all the milk is added, let the béchamel cook for about 5 min., whisking occasionally. season with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 teaspoon ground white pepper and salt to taste and remove from the heat. if your béchamel is looking a little chunky because you either didn’t warm up the milk or added it in too fast, that’s okay, simply strain it through a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl or carafe to remove any lumps.

6. take the ragu off the heat and remove the cinnamon stick. cover the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish with a little layer of béchamel. top with some lasagna sheets, breaking or tearing them to fit the dish, then add about a third of the ragu and more béchamel. repeat: lasagna sheets, ragu, béchamel. once more. for the last layer, add lasagna sheets and use the last of the béchamel to cover, spreading it with a spatula as needed to make sure all the past is covered. finish with a layer of 30 grams freshly grated parmesan cheese.

7. bake the lasagna on the middle rack of a preheated oven at 200°C/390°F for approx. 35 min. or until golden brown on top; you can also turn on the broiler to brown it more deeply for the last few minutes. remove and let rest for at least 10 min. before topping with more grated parmesan and minced chives. slice into large squares and serve immediately.