A lasagna to launch the New Year

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If there is one thing I have learned about food as an avid cook, it’s that ingredients and meals often carry meaning and symbolism on top of nourishment. In the last several years of my obsession with all things Italian, I learned that the humble lentil is often eaten around the New Year in hopes of prosperity and good luck in the coming year. 

When it comes to finding lentils, Montana is the best place in the nation. Big Sky Country farmers produce about 4.1 million pounds annually, and the next highest-producing state (North Dakota) is only a fourth of that. If we all found ways to eat some lentils heading into 2025, just think how much good luck our state could have!

Admittedly, lentils and other pulses were not a staple growing up in my family. I’m willing to bet that is the case for many Montanans, young and old. That doesn’t mean we can’t change and look for ways to use these fun, tasty, and nutritious crops. 

One of my favorite lentil recipes is this vegetarian Bolognese sauce that uses Montana lentils and mushrooms. This sauce serves as one of the primary ingredients in a vegetarian lasagna that uses the green pasta sheets I showed how to make in the last edition of Wide Open Table. 

This lentil and mushroom Bolognese can be vegan if you opt for olive oil instead of butter. And if the lasagna recipe is a bit too advanced, don’t let that hold you back from making this lentil and mushroom sauce. It can be poured over semolina-based pasta or polenta. My diet is far from vegan, but I do like to have a range of dishes in my culinary arsenal that can please people of all diets. 

Speaking carnivore-to-carnivore, this vegetarian lasagna has been a hit even with people who regularly eat meat. I’ve been tempted to serve it without telling them it’s vegetarian just to see if anyone even notices. It’s rich, hearty, and filling — what’s not to like?

A regular Bolognese usually features a couple of different kinds of meat, plenty of vegetables, and stews for hours. This one doesn’t take quite as long, but I do like to include a variety of different lentils and mushrooms to produce varied textures, colors, and flavors. 

I get all my lentils from Timeless Seeds out of Ulm, produced by organic farmers along the Hi-Line and the eastern part of the state. For this recipe, I use their Black Beluga lentils and Spanish Brown lentils. Both are small in size (you don’t need to pre-soak them) and almost have the texture of ground meat. Cook them separately before adding them to the sauce, because lentils often won’t soften when placed directly into salty or acidic sauces and soups. 

The mushrooms are your call, but I use 8 ounces of button mushrooms and 8 ounces of brown cremini mushrooms (16 ounces total for the recipe). You can use all buttons if that’s all you can find. But if you have a source of local mushrooms, feel free to go wild. Once chopped, 16 ounces will look like a lot of mushrooms, but they end up cooking down to about a third of their starting size. 

Assembling your lasagna is a fun process once you have the pasta sheets, vegetarian Bolognese, and béchamel sauce prepared. Consider adding some freshly shredded mozzarella (1 pound of whole milk mozzarella) if you like your lasagna a bit more cheesy, but it is not traditional in Italy. The béchamel acts as a creamy counterpoint to the Bolognese. 

You can prepare this the day before you bake it and keep it in the refrigerator. Keep in mind, however, that a cold lasagna will take longer to bake. It’s best to take it out of the refrigerator an hour or two before it goes in the oven. 

Once cooked, all lasagnas need a little rest time out of the oven to ensure they don’t fall apart (getting that first serving out is the trickiest part regardless). My Intermediate Chef guarantee is that this lasagna will be a special dish that will start your 2025 off right. Happy New Year!

LENTIL AND MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE
SERVES 6 

16 oz. button and/or cremini mushrooms
1/3 cup Black Beluga lentils
1/3 cup Spanish Brown lentils
14 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 medium onion (12 oz.)
2-3 large cloves of fresh garlic (1/2 oz. combined)
2 large carrots (5-6 oz. combined)
3 stalks celery (5-6 oz. combined)
1/2 cup dry Italian white wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tsp soy sauce
1 large sprig of rosemary
1 large sprig of thyme
olive oil or butter
salt and pepper
optional: 1/2 tsp red chili flakes

Bring a medium saucepan half full of water to a boil. Once at a boil, add the Spanish Brown lentils first, then five minutes later add the Black Beluga lentils. Cook for another 20 minutes. Taste them — they should be soft, but not mushy. Drain off all the water and set the lentils aside for later. 

Dice the mushrooms into 1/4- to 1/2-inch cubes. In a large Dutch oven preheated to medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil or butter and then your diced mushrooms. You want to brown the mushrooms, so allow them to sit in one spot, let any liquid evaporate, and then stir and repeat until you get a golden-brown color. This could take 8-12 minutes. Salt and pepper at the very end, stir well, and then remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside. 

Finely chop your onion, carrots, and celery stalks. In the Dutch oven on medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil or butter. Add your chopped onion, carrots, and celery. Stir initially, and then let sit for a few minutes so the contents on the bottom of the pan get partially golden brown. Stir and repeat until there is a bit of browning throughout most of the vegetables, or until all of the veggies are soft. This could take 8-12 minutes.

Add the garlic and tomato paste, stir, and cook another 2 minutes. Add the white wine and use the deglazing process to scrap the dark bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine until you don’t see much liquid anymore. Add the crushed tomatoes (use a half-cup of water to wash the remaining crushed tomatoes out of the can) and cook for 5-6 minutes. Add the sprigs of rosemary and thyme, the soy sauce, and the vegetable broth. Drop the heat to a very gentle simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat. Remove the rosemary and thyme springs.

Drain your lentils and add them to the Dutch oven. Use an immersion blender and pulse for one second about 10 times in different parts of the pan (do not puree the entire contents). This will thicken the sauce a bit. Stir to check the consistency — it should be loose, but not have big pools of liquid. Do five more pulses if you want a bit thicker consistency. Add the mushrooms and stir. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning accordingly. 

Allow the sauce to cool to room temperature before making the lasagna, or you can refrigerate it overnight if you’ll be making your lasagna the next day. If you refrigerate, bring the sauce back to room temperature before assembling the lasagna. 

BÉCHAMEL SAUCE

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp butter
2 1/2-3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup grated parmesan
fresh nutmeg

Melt the butter on medium heat. Once melted, add the flour and whisk until incorporated to make a roux. Cook for 2-3 minutes, whisking regularly. Heat 2 1/2 cups of milk in a microwave until lukewarm. Add the milk slowly to the roux, whisking vigorously as you go. Add a bit of freshly ground nutmeg. Continue to whisk every 30 seconds as the temperature of the sauce rises and it thickens over 6-8 minutes. If your sauce gets too thick, you can add another 1/2 cup of milk. Once the sauce coats the back of a spoon, turn off the heat and whisk in the parmesan cheese. The béchamel will thicken slightly as it cools.

ASSEMBLING AND BAKING THE LASAGNA

Butter the inside of an 8”x12” or 9”x13” pan with tall sides. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lay down your first layer of green pasta sheets (or store-bought, if that’s what you’re using), followed by a layer of the lentil and mushroom Bolognese. Use barely enough to cover the pasta sheet so you can’t see it anymore, but no more than that. 

Pour about 1/3-1/2 cup of the bechamel all over the Bolognese. If you are using mozzarella, freshly grate up to one pound of whole milk mozzarella and sprinkle a bit over the béchamel and Bolognese layers. You don’t need much, and you need the cheese to last for 4-5 layers. 

Lay down your next round of pasta and repeat the above steps until you have at least 4-5 layers. Do not stack your lasagna higher than the pan’s walls, as the contents may spill over as the lasagna heats. On top of the final layer of pasta, pour 1/3-1/2 cup of the bechamel and 1/3-1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese. 

Place the lasagna pan on a baking tray and cover with aluminum foil. Place in the preheated 375-degree oven for one hour. Then remove the foil from the top and continue baking for 15 minutes. I like to turn on the broiler for a few minutes at the end to get a nice bit of browning, but don’t walk away and forget, since that is a recipe for burning all your hard work! Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

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