Spicy Mushroom Lasagne

Ingredients

• 500 g oyster mushrooms, sliced
• 135 ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 carrot, quartered
• 2 plums, quartered
• 75 g tomato paste
• black pepper
• 750 g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 60 g dried porcini mushrooms
• 30 g dried wild mushrooms
• 2 dried red chillieses, chopped (seeds removed for milder flavor)
• 5 cloves, roughly chopped
• 130 ml double cream
• 60 g finely grated pecorino romano cheese
• 60 g parmesan
• 5 g basil, chopped
• 250 g lasagne sheets
• 10 g parsley, chopped, plus extra for garnish

Method

1. Heat the oven to 230°C fan. Pulse the chestnut and oyster mushrooms in a food processor in batches until finely chopped — you want a coarse mince, not a paste. Tip into a large bowl with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of salt, toss through, and spread across a large parchment-lined tray.
2. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring three times, until deeply golden and shrunken to about half their volume. Drop the oven to 200°C fan.
3. While the mushrooms roast, bring the vegetable stock to a simmer and pour it over the dried porcini, dried wild mushrooms, chopped chillies and red lentils in a large bowl. Leave to soak for 30 minutes — the lentils will drink up the stock and soften alongside the mushrooms.
4. Strain the soaking liquid into a jug, pressing well to extract every drop. You want around 340ml; top up with water if you're short. Roughly chop the rehydrated mushrooms, finely chop the chillies, and keep the softened lentils with them.
5. Pulse the onion, carrot and garlic in the food processor until very finely chopped. Heat 60ml olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and cook the soffritto for 8 minutes, stirring often, until soft and golden at the edges.
6. Pulse the plum tomatoes to a rough purée and add them to the pan with the tomato paste, 1½ teaspoons of salt and ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Cook for 7 minutes, stirring, until the paste darkens and the tomatoes lose their raw edge.
7. Stir in the roasted mushrooms, the rehydrated mushrooms, the chillies, the soaked lentils and the reserved mushroom stock. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick, glossy and clinging to the spoon. Taste and adjust the salt.
8. In a small bowl, whisk the cream with most of the pecorino and parmesan (hold a small handful back for the top) and stir through the chopped basil.
9. Grease a deep baking dish with olive oil. Spoon a thin layer of ragù across the base, lay down lasagne sheets, then alternate ragù, a drizzle of the cream mixture, and pasta — you're after four layers of pasta, finishing with ragù and the rest of the cream spooned over in pools.
10. Scatter the reserved cheese on top and bake for 25–30 minutes, until the top is bronzed and bubbling at the edges and a knife slides through the pasta with no resistance. Rest for 10 minutes before cutting — it needs that time to settle into clean slices.