A Lasagna To Launch The New Year
 | Author:
Jon Bennion, Montana Free Press
Jon Bennion, Montana Free Press |
A Lasagna to Launch the New Year
Jon Bennion
Montana Free Press
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.
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PhotoCredit: Jon Bennion Photo
Image 1 Caption: Logo & Lasagne
Image 2 Caption: Ingredients
Jon Bennion Photo
