Dispatches From Whitcomb Street

lasagne with mushrooms and ham

We blew back in from a long bike ride with April and Kyle—way out on County Road 48 to the farm we’re getting a chicken share from—just as it was getting dark. We were hungry. So we ate lasagne, and the world seemed like a nice place again. 

This is another one from Marcella Hazan. Long-cooked mushrooms, cheese, and unsmoked ham, bound with béchamel and layered with super-eggy noodles? Twist my arm.

This lasagne feels very rich, though it’s arguably lighter than those with meat sauces. I think it’s the mushrooms—there’s a lot to chew on in every bite, and it makes the whole thing really satisfying. It is basically the pasta equivalent of cashmere sweater, all warm, delicate comfort. 

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green lasagne with lemon

This is a hodgepodge recipe, with ideas and methods borrowed from here, there and everywhere—flavors from Martha, Italian prescriptivism from Marcella. And boy, howdy, is it good. 

Method-wise, this Serious Bolognese-style Lasagne—very, very thin noodles, stacked at least six layers high; no cheese except for a sprinkle of Parm between each layer. This dish is as much about pasta as it is about filling; it’s light and pillowy-soft inside, with a kind of resilient custard thing happening at the crunchy corners. Rich and delicate rather than oozy or cheesy or robust. It’s wonderful, but it’s not your usual lasagne, if that’s what you’re expecting. I like big, bold lasagne as much as the next girl—but sometimes you want something different. 

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