Dayrecipe Food Community

Crusty Italian bread and a simple salad round out a delicious meatless meal. What to drink: A robust Italian Barbera.

Makes 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• filling
• 2tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 1pound mushrooms, sliced
• 3garlic cloves, minced
• 28-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, coarsely chopped
• 1cup dry vermouthbéchamel sauce
• 4 1/2tablespoons butter
• 4 1/2tablespoons all purpose flour
• 4 1/2cups whole milk
• 2 1/2cups freshly grated parmesan cheese (about 7 1/2 ounces)
• ground nutmeg19-ounce package oven-ready (no-boil) lasagna noodles
• 1pound whole-milk mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS For filling:Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; sauté until mushrooms release juices and begin to brown, about 7 minutes. Add artichokes and vermouth. Cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

For béchamel sauce:Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour; stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens and lightly coats spoon, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups Parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

Spread 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over bottom of 13×9x2-inch glass baking dish. Top with enough noodles to cover bottom of dish. Spread 1/4 of artichoke mixture over. Spoon 2/3 cup béchamel sauce over. Top béchamel with 1/4 of mozzarella.

Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons Parmesan. Top with enough noodles to cover. Repeat layering 3 more times, finishing with a layer of noodles, then remaining béchamel. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover with foil and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake lasagna covered with foil 1 hour (or 1 hour 15 minutes if chilled). Remove foil. Increase temperature to 450°F. Bake lasagna until golden on top, about 10 minutes longer.

Judy Rodgers is currently working on a cookbook from her Zuni Café in San Francisco. Grilling the mushrooms for this salad (which will appear in the new book) intensifies their flavor.

Active time: 35 min Start to finish: 35 min

Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4cup hazelnuts
• 1garlic clove, halved
• 1lb fresh exotic mushrooms such as chanterelle, cremini, and shiitake, trimmed (discard shiitake stems)
• 1 1/2tablespoons champagne vinegar or white-wine vinegar
• 3/4teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/3cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1(8-oz) head frisée (french curly endive), trimmed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1teaspoon hazelnut oil or white truffle oil (optional) special equipment: 6 to 8 wooden skewers

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 350°F.Roast nuts in a shallow baking pan in middle of oven until toasted, 10 to12 minutes. Wrap in a kitchen towel and rub to remove skins from nuts(not all skins will come off). Cool nuts and coarsely chop. Rub a large salad bowl with cut sides of garlic, then discard garlic and add nuts to bowl.

Prepare grill for cooking or preheat broiler.

Thread mushrooms horizontally through caps onto skewers and arrange on a baking sheet. Whisk together vinegar and salt in a small bowl, then gradually whisk in olive oil until emulsified. Add pepper to taste.

Brush a few tablespoons vinaigrette onto mushrooms and grill 4 to 6 inches over glowing coals, turning once, until mushrooms are golden and tender,3 to 5 minutes. (Alternatively, mushrooms can be broiled.)

Working quickly, remove mushrooms from skewers and slice 1/4 inch thick. Add to salad bowl with frisée, remaining vinaigrette, hazelnut oil, and salt and pepper to taste and toss well.

Portobellos make this simple dish shine. It’s from Alfred Portale’s
12 Seasons Cookbook written with Andrew Friedman (Broadway Books).

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 45 min

Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• for portobello vinaigrette
• 1lb portobello mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1/4cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1cup reduced-sodiumchicken broth
• 1tablespoon sherry vinegar or rice vinegar (not seasoned)
• 1tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1tablespoon minced shallot
• 1/4teaspoon minced garlic
• 3/4teaspoon kosher salt
  for steamed spinach
• 2cups water
• 1 1/2lb baby spinach
• 2tablespoons unsalted butter
  for halibut
• 4(1 1/4-inch-thick) pieces halibut fillet (1 1/2 lb total), skinned
• 2tablespoons extra-virginolive oil

DIRECTIONS Prepare mushrooms and vinaigrette:
Cook mushrooms in 1 tablespoonoil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about5 minutes. Add broth and simmeruntil mushrooms are tender,about 5 minutes.

Transfer mushrooms with a slotted spoon to a plate and keep warm, covered. Boil liquid in skillet until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Transferto a bowl and cool. Whisk inremaining oil, remaining vinaigrette ingredients, and pepper to taste.

Steam spinach:
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add half of spinach and cook, covered, until leaves are wilted,1 to 2 minutes. Stir in remaining spinach and cook, covered, until tender,about 2 minutes more. Drain wellin a colander, pressing on spinach witha large spoon. Return spinach to pan and stir in butter and salt and pepperto taste. Keep warm, covered.

Prepare halibut:
Pat halibut dry and season with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, thencook fish until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Arrange halibut, spinach, and mushrooms on 4 large plates or bowls. Spoon vinaigrette over each serving.

Roasting the asparagus intensifies its flavor and is easy to do.

Makes 4 (first-course) servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 1pound medium asparagus, tough ends trimmed
• 2teaspoons olive oil3tablespoons butter
• 1large shallot, minced
• 12ounces assorted wild mushrooms (such as crimini, oyster, chanterelle, and stemmed shiitake), sliced
• 1/2cup dry white wine
• 1tablespoon minced fresh italian parsley
• 1teaspoon minced fresh tarragon

DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 475°F. Arrange asparagus on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle oil over and turn to coat. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast until just tender, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot; sauté 1 minute. Add mushrooms; sauté until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Cover; cook until mushrooms are tender, about 3 minutes. Add wine; cook uncovered until wine is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Stir in parsley and tarragon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide asparagus among 4 plates. Top each serving with mushrooms.

Jason Corrigan, chef at A Touch of Garlic in Springfield, Massachusetts, writes: “In the past, I’ve worked at large restaurants, catering to hundreds of people every night. That alone taught me every possible shortcut to speed up the cooking process: For instance, slicing raw potatoes to reduce boiling time, pounding meat thin so it cooks more quickly, and of course, the mise en place — getting everything prepped so you’re just reaching for ingredients at the last minute.”

Pounding the meat reduces cooking time.

Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 3tablespoons butter
• 2large shallots, sliced
• 1 1/2pounds mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 1tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1cup zinfandel
• 1/2cup ruby port
• 1/2cup low-salt chicken broth11 1/4-pound top sirloin steak, about 3/4 to 1 inch thick
• 3/4teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots; sauté 2 minutes. Add mushrooms; cover and cook 5 minutes. Uncover and sauté until mushrooms are browned, about 10 minutes. Add flour and stir 1 minute. Add Zinfandel, Port, and broth. Boil until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon thinly, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place steak between sheets of waxed paper. Using mallet or rolling pin, pound steak to 1/2-inch thickness. Coat both sides of steak with 3/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in another heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add steak to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 2 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer steak to work surface; do not clean skillet. Add mushrooom sauce to skillet; bring to simmer, scraping up any browned bits.

Thinly slice steak; transfer to platter. Spoon mushroom sauce over and serve.