Region: Italy
Category: Pasta with Vegetables
Season: Any
Difficulty: Medium Difficulty
This recipe requires, or at least is vastly better, if you
make your own lasagna
handkerchiefs, rectangles of thin pasta about 4 x 3 inches. The cooked lasagna is laid over a dollop of
ricotta cheese mixed with egg yolk, mascarpone, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
and the sauteed chicory and seared lobster mushroom is laid on top. Lobster mushrooms
are huge orange-red colored
mushrooms that at a quick glance could be mistaken for the back of a lobster
shell, hence their name, although in the Mediterranean
it has different names. Lobster
mushrooms, today considered a gourmet treat, were not always recommended as we
know from its dismissal in Roger Tory Peterson's Mushrooms of North America where it is called orange mushroom
pimple, a rather unattractive name.
Lobster mushroom is much more appropriate both from a marketing point of
view and as an indication of taste.
[photo of lobster mushroom: Clifford A. Wright]
Yield: Makes 8 servings
Preparation Time: 40 minutes
3 bunches (about 2 pounds) chicory (curly endive), washed well, stem trimmed
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil and more for drizzling
1/4 pound lobster mushroom or chanterelles mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 pound mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and more for sprinkling
1 large yolk
3/4 pound homemade lasagna, cut in 4 x 3-inch squares
1. In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat, season with salt, then add the chicory and cook until wilted but still green, about 7 minutes. Drain well and chop coarsely and set aside.
2. In a flame-proof casserole, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then cook the mushrooms, making sure the slices don?t overlap, until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute while stirring. Add the chicory and cook, stirring occasionally, until much liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. In a bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, mascarpone, a 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, and egg yolk. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Meanwhile, for every pound of pasta, bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil over high heat, salt abundantly with up to 1/2 cup of salt, then add the pasta in handfuls. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn't stick together, until al dente. Drain without rinsing or turn the heat off and remove the lasagna when needed using tongs.
6. Place a dollop of the ricotta cheese mixture in each pasta bowl. Cover with about 6 sheets or more of cooked lasagne. Cover the lasagne with the chicory and then place 1 or 2 slices of lobster mushroom on top. Sprinkle with more parmigiano cheese and drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Posted: 03/31/2008