Vincisgrassi (field mushroom and prosciutto lasagne) recipe
If you have a pasta machine it really is worth making your own pasta for this, but if not you can use the ready-made sheets for lasagne. They will be a bit thicker than homemade.
Prep time: 25 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting time | Cooking time: 50 minutes
SERVES
Six to eight
INGREDIENTS
For the pasta, or use shop-bought lasagne sheets:
300g type 00 pasta flour, plus extra for dusting
3 large eggs
1 tsp salt
For the sauce:
400g field mushrooms (swap in some porcini if you like), sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 litres double cream
100g parmesan, freshly grated
Nutmeg to grate
1 tsp white truffle oil
300g parma ham, cut into thin strips
To assemble:
50g butter
100g parmesan
METHOD
To make the pasta, combine the flour, eggs and salt in an electric stand mixer and pulse until the mixture collects together.
Take it from the machine and knead on a lightly floured surface until the pasta takes on a shiny, waxy appearance.
Wrap in cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
When the pasta has rested, cut off about a third of it. Using a little flour to keep it from sticking, run this through the pasta machine, taking it from the widest setting down to the thinnest. You will end up with a long narrow sheet.
Cut this into smaller sheets to fit a 23 x 30cm gratin dish, and repeat with the rest of the pasta dough, rolling and cutting. You will need to make about five layers in the dish.
Cook the fresh pasta sheets in boiling salted water for a couple of minutes then refresh in a bowl of cold water. Transfer each refreshed sheet to dry on a tea towel, making sure they don’t overlap.
If using dried lasagne sheets, cook them as per the packet instructions and lay them out to dry on a tea towel.
To make the sauce, fry the sliced mushrooms in the oil until coloured then add a pinch of salt and continue to fry until the moisture has disappeared.
Warm the cream in a pan until just below boiling point and add parmesan. Stir until the sauce thickens, adding a couple of scrapes of nutmeg. Add the mushrooms, truffle oil and parma ham to the sauce and simmer for two minutes.
Check the seasoning and remove from the heat. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4.
To assemble, rub the gratin dish with butter and cover the base of the dish with a single layer of pasta sheets. Spoon some mushroom sauce over the pasta, trying to include an even amount of mushroom and ham – just enough to cover it. Grate a little parmesan over this and dot with butter.
Cover with another layer of pasta (don’t worry if the pasta hangs over the edge a bit), mushroom sauce, butter and parmesan and repeat three more times.
Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes. The vincisgrassi is done when the top is nice and brown. Serve with a big green salad.
