There are lots of cooks out there who actually know what they are doing. I pretty much taught myself to cook, out of necessity. I haven’t a clue most of the time, but I do love to eat. Essentially, I just substituted the Sparassis for lasagna noodles. I actually did half cauliflower mushroom and half noodles in the same casserole-my wife doesn’t like mushrooms. I had some of each, and the Sparrasis half compared favorably in texture and presentation to the traditional noodle lasagna, but with the added benefit of that lovely cauliflower mushroom flavor and aroma.
Ingredients
- 24 oz marinara sauce
- 2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
- a bit of red wine (less than 1/2 cup)
- 1/2# italian sausage
- 1/2# ground beef
- 15 oz Ricotta cheese
- 24 oz grated Mozarella cheese
- 4 oz grated Pecorino cheese
- 1 large Cauliflower Mushroom, cleaned and separated or 1# lasagna noodles
- 1/2 large red onion, chopped fine
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 bell pepper, chopped fine
- 3 pinches oregano
- 2 pinches basil
- minced parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
The onion and bell pepper should be chopped fine and the garlic cloves minced. Cook the sausage and ground beef in hot olive oil until no pink remains, crumbling the meat into small pieces as it cooks. Remove and drain the meat, reserving some of the fatty oil to cook the onions and bell pepper. Cook until the onions soften then return the meat, add the garlic and a splash or two of red wine, and cook another five minutes or so.
Cut the base off your Sparassis and thoroughly clean the mushroom, tearing and separating the leaves to resemble noodles. If you are using pasta, boil the noodles in salted water; al dente- do not overcook!
Add the sauce, diced tomatoes, parsley, oregano and basil to the meat mixture. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat. Stir occasionally. You should also make sure your cheeses are grated and ready and oil a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 375f
Put a thin layer of the meat sauce in the bottom of the pan and cover with a layer of the raw, shredded mushroom or cooked pasta. Put another layer of sauce over this and sprinkle with a generous covering of grated Mozarella, add 1/2 of the Riccota in evenly distributed dollops and finish with a dusting of grated Pecorino. Repeat with another layer of Sparassis or noodles, sauce, the rest of the Ricotta and half of the remaining cheese. Add a final layer of mushroom or pasta, topped with the remaining sauce and cheese.
Cover the lasagna loosely with foil and bake in the oven at 375f for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving, if you can stand to wait that long.
