Fancy Schmancy Lasagna

This marks my halfway point in my goal of cooking through the alphabet! Albeit a little behind schedule, I am very proud of this next dish. Usually if a recipe has more than 6 or 7 ingredients I steer clear! But my parents came into town so I knew with a little help from my mom, I could tackle this (what I thought was) a complicated yet gourmet dish!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1 ounce)
2 (3 1/2-ounce) packages shiitake mushrooms
Cooking spray
1 (8-ounce) package presliced button mushrooms
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
6 no-boil lasagna noodles (such as Barilla or Vigo)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 cups chopped plum tomato
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine the water and porcini in a medium bowl; cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Drain in a sieve over a bowl, reserving 1 cup soaking liquid. Bring the soaking liquid to a boil in small saucepan; reduce heat to medium, and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes). Remove the stems from shiitakes; discard stems. Slice shiitake caps.
Note: You can really use any type of mushrooms that you like, so don't be deterred if you haven't heard of these listed above!



Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add porcini, shiitake, and button mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon salt, thyme, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; sauté 12 minutes or until softened. Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.



Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly with a whisk. Gradually add 1/4 cup porcini mushroom liquid and milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook until mixture thickens (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat. Add the goat cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and1/8 teaspoon pepper, and stir until cheese melts.



Spread 1/2 cup cheese sauce in bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 2 noodles over cheese sauce, and top with half of mushroom mixture, half of spinach, 3/4 cup tomato, 1/2 cup cheese sauce, and 1/4 cup mozzarella. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. And since my parents are very health conscious, I opted for whole wheat noodles and it worked just as well!



Spread remaining cheese sauce over noodles. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup tomato, and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Cover and bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 25 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes.



It turned out even better than I thought it would! The main thing I learned from this dish is to not be hesitant to try something new, even if the ingredient list is a little daunting!