Jottage from Lancaster - Kale and Mushroom lasagne (2)

There's something to be said for trusting a recipe book. To my genuine surprise (tinged with a little horror) I found out that many recipe books just put in random recipes that had never actually been tried out. Many of Mrs Beeton's recipes, for instance, are just made up figments of her imagination. They may work out - they may not. Although I don't know if Delia Smith was the first of her kind to have actually whipped up every recipe in her famous books - but in my mind she was the first cook I trusted. Many of us feel the same I know, as the blessed Delia's Complete Cookery Course must be on almost everyone's cookery bookshelf. I know that people love Jamie and that there are other equally brilliant cooks (mostly of the TV variety) who produce books that people 'swear by'. Since I'm not a huge fan of TV cookery, these have largely passed me by. However, our chance encounter with Hugh changed all that (as you must realise) and I have come to rely on, trust even, the River Cottage recipes. 


In my Delia phases (Marigold stock powder, real Madagascar vanilla essence et al), I was always pleased with the results of what I made - and I never doubted that what would turn out would be palatable, but it was never quite as exciting as I wanted to it be. Now I wouldn't call my self anything but a decent, plain cook. Cottage pie, steamed ginger pudding, Yorkshire pud and decent gravy are my strengths and Delia provided recipes of that ilk that I was quite happy to make. But suddenly when I bought River Cottage Everyday I felt that it was something I really wanted to try. To be able to make things that were a bit different and a bit more exciting. But kale and spinach lasagne would have to be a no-no. It sounded bland, uninteresting and 'not quite my thing'.


However.

Assembled but not cooked

Once Heather had made it and I looked again I thought I would have a go. Just because I trusted the book not to put me through the shenanigans of making it if it wasn't better than half way decent to eat. Bearing in mind Heather's warnings about the lasagne not being cooked, I did what I usually do and made it in the morning in the hope that the lasagne sheets would soften enough before it was cooked to avoid pre-cooking. I had a minor hiccup as I suddenly thought it needed 200g of parmesan and not 20g and I also got completely muddled about which layer was which and ended up just stacking up the kale, mushrooms and lasagne pretty randomly in the dish before I sprinkled on the obligatory cheese. So far so good. It seemed to be a simple recipe (and certainly cheap - especially given that it didn't need much Parmesan. But boy did it make a lot of washing up!

The finished lasagne!

The end result had the obligatory bubbling cheese on top. And amazingly it tasted really wonderful. Definitely one to make again and again. Really the pre-cooked lasagne did need to be cooked - it was a bit more al dente than It perhaps should have been. But I don't mind making it again as I want to eat it again!






All that was left was to eat it - and then do the washing up!

Jottage from Cambridge - Kale and Mushroom Lasagne

There are probably few meals (and I’m only guessing here) that take on the name of the food they are made from, but this is the case with lasagne – the word meaning both sheets of flat pasta, and what is very often a stodgy concoction of meat  and tomato interspersed, layer by soggy layer, between them. Lasagne is the stuff of Home Economics lessons in schools – a very simple dish but, like cake-making, an enjoyable process of building up layers of food which, without any effort at all, melt into each other to make a satisfying whole. Yet lasagne is often a disappointment. The cook eagerly adds in too many layers of pasta or grates a mountain of cheese on top (this is the fault of cookery writers who always insist we use enormous blocks of the stuff when really just a sprinkling of parmesan will do). I have made lasagne numerous times, but rarely really enjoyed the outcome. Yes, it looks wonderful when it comes out of the oven – look at all that delicious cheese bubbling away! -  but the dish rarely tastes as good as it looks. The same goes for lasagnes in restaurants. Generally a lasagne must be served with a pile of chips (I’m sure the Italians would not be happy about this) or a big salad covered in dressing. One final dig: unlike cottage pie or moussaka (themselves nearly always tasty even if the meat is cheap, and the veg are just chosen blindly from the fridge), lasagne doesn’t keep for very long and, unless eaten very quickly, tends to solidify and become inedible. 

Despite all of the above, I always believe that lasagne will taste delicious so I decided to try Hugh’s Kale and Mushroom version (River Cottage Veg). Kale and mushrooms fried in butter take the place of the meat and, instead of using tins of tomatoes, Hugh has devised a very tasty Béchamel sauce with peppercorns, celery, onion, and a bay leaf. The layers are built up (with the obligatory cheese on top) and the whole thing cooked in half an hour, though preparation time was considerably longer.  I was expecting great things but, alas, the lasagne didn’t meet my expectations. The main problem was the lasagne (here I’m referring to the type of pasta) which hadn’t really cooked properly, perhaps because I hadn’t made enough sauce to really soften the layers. However I’ve decided not to give in so easily and have annotated the cookbook accordingly and made a note to try this recipe again. As for traditional meat lasagne, well I think I have tried for long enough and will probably call it quits!