We are very happy to announce that we have one copy of the new cookbook Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage (published September 3rd 2020) to give away.   Just fill out the form below and we will pick one lucky winner out of a hat after 5pm on Thursday 24th September 2020.  We also have a recipe from the book below, a delicious Spicy Mushroom Lasagne, for you to try meanwhile.

Spicy Mushroom Lasagne

750g of chestnut mushrooms, halved

500g oyster mushrooms 135ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing

60g dried porcini mushrooms

30g dried wild mushrooms

2 dried red chillies, roughly chopped (deseeded for less heat)

500ml hot vegetable stock

1 onion, peeled and quartered

5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled and quartered (90g)

2–3 plum tomatoes, quartered (200g)

75g tomato paste

130ml double cream

60g Pecorino Romano, finely grated

60g Parmesan, finelygrated

5g basil leaves, finely chopped

10g parsley leaves, finely chopped, plus an extra tsp to serve

250g dried lasagne sheets (that’s about 14 sheets)

salt and black pepper

This lasagne contains one of two epic ragù recipes in this book – the other is the ultimate traybake ragù, p.101 – which, we believe, give any meat ragù a terrifically good run for its money.

This particular ragù pays homage to penne all’Aconese, the first dish that Ixta fell madly in love with. It’s served at Ristorante Pizzeria Acone, a community- run restaurant in the Tuscan village of Acone, perched at the top of the mountain on which she spent her formative childhood years. The recipe is a closely guarded secret, but the complex, earthy and deeply umami flavour of dried porcini mushrooms is impossible to miss. This is our meatless take on that mythical sauce.

The ragù can easily be made vegan if you lose the cream. It can also be made ahead and refrigerated, ready to be served with pasta or polenta, saving yourself the trouble of constructing the lasagne if you’re short on time.

Reduce the black pepper and lose the chilli for a child-friendly version. If you want to get ahead, the lasagne can be assembled, refrigerated and then baked the next day (once it’s come back up to room temperature).

1. Preheat the oven to 230°C fan.

2. Put the chestnut and oyster mushrooms into the large bowl of a food processor in three or four batches and pulse each batch until finely chopped (or finely chop everything by hand). Toss the chopped mushrooms in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of salt and spread out on a large, 40cm x 35cm parchment-lined, rimmed baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes near the top of the oven, stirring three times throughout, until the mushrooms are golden-brown; they will have reduced in volume significantly. Set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C fan.

3. Meanwhile, combine the dried mushrooms, chillies and hot stock in a large bowl and set aside to soak for half an hour. Strain the liquid into another bowl, squeezing as much liquid from the mushrooms as possible to get about 340ml: if you have any less, top up with water. Very roughly chop the rehydrated mushrooms (you want some chunks) and finely chop the chillies. Set the stock and mushrooms aside separately.

4. Put the onion, garlic and carrot into the food processor and pulse until finely chopped (or finely chop everything by hand). Heat 60ml of oil in a large sauté pan or pot on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion mixture and fry for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. Pulse the tomatoes in the food processor until finely chopped (or finely chop by hand), then add to the pan along with the tomato paste, 11⁄2 teaspoons of salt and 13⁄4 teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper. Cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rehydrated mushrooms and chillies and the roasted mushrooms and cook for 9 minutes, resisting the urge to stir: you want the mushrooms to be slightly crisp and browned on the bottom. Stir in the reserved stock and 800ml of water and, once simmering, reduce the heat to medium and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you get the consistency of a ragù. Stir in 100ml of the cream and simmer for another 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

5. Combine both cheeses and both herbs in a small bowl. To assemble the lasagne, spread one-fifth of the sauce in the bottom of a round 28cm baking dish (or a 30cm x 20cm rectangular dish), then top with a fifth of the cheese mixture, followed by a layer of lasagne sheets, broken to fit where necessary. Repeat these layers three more times in that order, and finish with a final layer of sauce and cheese: that’s five layers of sauce and cheese and four layers of pasta.

6. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of cream and 1 tablespoon of oil, then cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil, increase the temperature to 220°C fan and bake for another 12 minutes, turning the dish round halfway.  Turn the oven to the grill setting and grill for a final 2 minutes, until the edges are brown and crisp.  Set aside to cool for 5 or so minutes, then drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of cream and oil.  Sprinkle over the remaining parsley, finish with a good grind of pepper and serve.