Although I’m from the Garden State, I acknowledge that Pennsylvania
is the king of mushroom growing in the US. Not too far outside Philadelphia, a
small, quaint town – Kennett Square – proclaims itself as the “mushroom capital
of America.” Each fall, the town hosts a mushroom festival to promote mushrooms
and to educate people about their health benefits.
Some basic “biology facts” about mushrooms. Though they’re
found in the Produce Department, they are NOT plants. Mushrooms and their yeast
cousins belong to the Fungi Kingdom. Genetically, mushrooms are more closely
related to animals than they are to plants. A lot of what we know about how our cells work is based on yeast cells too, so these “fun- guys” are very
important model organisms! Okay, done with the science, moving on.
I’ve learned that people generally love mushrooms or hate
them, so there's no middle ground. I for one, think that mushrooms are edible sponges, soaking
up any flavor. I'm even trying to grow my own!
On one of my trips to the farmer’s market, I picked up a mix
quart of wild mushrooms: shitaki, pearl, and blue oysters.
Look at these "fun -guys"!
The vendor suggested a simple sauté with butter and garlic;
I thought, “It’s Sunday: pasta day!” I had fresh lasagna sheets that I cut to
fit in my “lasagna for two” pan (it’s 3x9inches). I prepared a béchamel sauce, and layered the pasta,
mushrooms and sauce, until full.
Ingredients:
1 lb mushroom
½ sweet onion, diced
lasagna sheets 3 full sheets, then cut to fit in pan
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
mozzerella
béchamel sauce
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
2 cups milk , room temperature
½ cup parmesan cheese
Directions:
Heat olive oil, and sweat onion with salt and pepper. Chop
mushrooms and add to pan.
Cook until amount has become a quarter of original
amount.
Where did they all go?! Mushrooms are mostly water.
To prepare béchamel sauce, prepare a roux with butter and flour. Cook until lightly brown and nutty smelling. Slowly whisk in milk. Milk should be room temperature so that the temperature change isn’t too drastic. Once thicken (15 minutes), add parmesan cheese.
See it will stick to the spoon; if watery, keep cooking!
Prepare lasagna sheets as directed by your
particular pasta. To pan, add sauce, layer pasta, mushrooms, and mozzerella. Continue in this manner until pan full.
layering
Bake for ½ hr at 350F. Enjoy!
Bubbly out of the oven!
It was a great success even for my husband, who over the last seven years has gone from a mushroom "hater" to "okay, I like this one!"
No comments:
Post a Comment