Wild Mushroom Lasagna with Parmesan and Lemon

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

500g tomatoes, fresh or canned, chopped

6 cups wild mushrooms (or substitute with cultivated mushrooms)

6 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon

200g 'instant' lasagna sheets

1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan or Cheddar, or a combination

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bechamel sauce

3 cups milk

1 bay leaf

3 blades mace

115g butter

75g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute onion until clear. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 6 – 8 minutes, stirring often. Season with salt and pepper.

Make the bechamel sauce. Heat the milk with the bay leaf and mace. In a separate pan, melt the butter, then stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the hot milk, stirring constantly, until the sauce boil and thickens. Season and set aside.

Slice the mushrooms finely. Heat half the butter and cook the mushrooms until the juices flow. Add the garlic and lemon juice, and season. Cook until the liquid has almost all evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to brown slightly. Set aside.

Grease a baking dish with the remaining butter. Spread a large spoonful of the bechamel sauce over the bottom. Add a layer of lasagna sheets. Cover with a thin layer of mushrooms, then of bechamel sauce. Sprinkle evenly with a little cheese.

Make another layer of pasta. Spread with a thin layer of tomato mixture, then one of bechamel sauce. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Repeat the layers, ending with pasta coated with bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes until browned.

Serve with a green salad.