So, why a “white” lasagna? Well, I can’t eat tomatoes or peppers, meaning that a typical lasagna is off limits. So, a number of years ago, I got creative and made up this recipe for the “white” variety, using Portobello mushrooms to substitute for the peppers and a cream sauce to take the place of the traditional tomato sauce.



Sauce:

1.5-2 large Portobello mushrooms, chopped relatively small
2 cloves garlic
Olive oil
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/4 cup millet or rice flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup water
Salt and pepper

Pasta:

10 oz. package brown rice lasagna noodles

Meatballs:

1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons dried onion
Approximately 1/4 cup cold/ice water
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Other ingredients:

8 oz. mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 1b. ricotta cheese
1/2 to 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

For sauce:

Sauté mushrooms in olive oil (can be done the day before). Then, in separate pan, make a roué (basis for the sauce), cooking millet (or rice) flour about 5 minutes in melted butter, then adding cream and water. Stir constantly over low to medium heat until sauce thickens. Add salt, pepper, and cooked mushrooms, including any remaining oil from the mushrooms.

For meatballs:

Combine ground beef, egg, garlic, dried onion, cold water, oregano, salt and pepper; form into small balls (about the size of a small walnut), and fry until done in a small amount of olive oil. Drain on paper towels.

For pasta:

Cook according to package directions. (I did not have good luck with the energy-saving method that only cooked 2 minutes; when I did that, the noodles stuck together.) Drain immediately on a clean bath towel.

Assemblage:

Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 greased pan with the pasta. It helps to group the pasta into what will become the three layers, to be sure you have enough for each. Then distribute half of the cheeses, half of the meatballs, and almost half of the sauce. Layer with pasta and add the rest of the cheese, meatballs, all of the mushrooms, and most of the remaining sauce.  For the final layer, only add the rest of the sauce and spread to keep top pasta damp. Sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes (convection oven: 325 degrees for about 30 minutes). Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes so that pieces will gel. Freezes well. Great with a salad of red onion, artichoke hearts, and leaf lettuce.

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You’ll need about 2 hours from start to finish, maybe more. But the results are well  worth it. Even my grown daughter who will not eat mushrooms loved it (though she did pick the mushrooms out). And my grandson doesn’t know enough to think that mushrooms are inedible. He ate everything on his plate. And even those who didn’t like mushrooms asked for seconds.