Mary Berry Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne Recipe

Mary Berry’s mushroom and spinach lasagne layers a garlicky mushroom and tomato sauce with leaf spinach, white sauce and grated Emmental. It bakes until golden and bubbling, and the whole thing takes about 1 hour 10 minutes.

Berry calls it her Vegetarian Lasagne in Mary Berry Cookery Course (2015). She uses Emmental instead of the Parmesan in her meat version, and thickens the mushroom sauce with flour. She often serves both lasagnes at parties, and says “they’re equally popular.”

The layering order is what holds it together. Each layer goes mushroom sauce, spinach, white sauce, cheese, then pasta, with the sheets laid flat and not overlapping. Overlapped sheets stay thick and chewy where they double up, so break them to fit instead.

Mary Berry Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne Recipe

Recipe by Pinch Perfect

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Dinner, Lunch, MainCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

55

minutes

Calories

670

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

From the Cookery Course (2015), this is a meat-free lasagne that uses no-precook sheets and frozen spinach, so there’s no boiling or wilting. The mushroom sauce cooks in one pan in about 25 minutes while you make the white sauce.

Ingredients

• For the lasagne:

• butter, for greasing

• 500g (1lb 2oz) frozen leaf spinach, thawed and well drained

• 600ml (1 pint) hot white sauce (see below)

• 200g (7oz) Emmental cheese, grated

• about 6 sheets no pre-cooking required dried lasagne

• For the mushroom sauce:

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped

• 350g (12oz) button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

• 40g (1¼oz) plain flour

• 400g can chopped tomatoes

• 1 tsp sugar

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 tbsp shredded fresh basil

• For the white sauce (makes 600ml):

• 40g (1¼oz) butter

• 40g (1¼oz) plain flour

• 600ml (1 pint) hot milk

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• a few gratings of nutmeg

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Directions

• Start the sauce: Heat the oil in a non-stick sauté pan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, until just beginning to brown. Add the mushrooms and garlic, stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and stir well.
• Simmer: Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, until reduced and thickened.
• Preheat: Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan/375°F/Gas 5). Grease a baking dish about 25 x 20cm (10 x 8in) and 5cm (2in) deep.
• First layer: Stir the shredded basil into the mushroom sauce. Spread one-third of the sauce over the bottom of the dish.
• Spinach and cheese: Scatter one-third of the spinach over the mushroom sauce with your fingers. Spread one-third of the white sauce over the spinach, then sprinkle with one-third of the cheese.
• Pasta: Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets, not overlapping them. The dish will probably take 3 sheets, but you may have to break them to fit.
• Repeat and bake: Repeat the layers of mushroom sauce, spinach, white sauce, cheese and lasagne sheets, then repeat once more, finishing with the cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Notes

• (white sauce, from the same book): Melt the butter over a medium heat until foaming, then sprinkle in the flour. Whisk this roux for 1 to 2 minutes and take it off the heat. Gradually whisk in the hot milk, then return to a medium heat and whisk until boiling and thickened. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

FAQs

Why does the spinach need to be so well drained?

Berry specifies frozen leaf spinach “thawed and well drained,” and the draining matters more than it sounds. Any water left in it seeps into the white sauce as it bakes, which leaves a watery layer under the pasta. I press it hard in a sieve with the back of a spoon until almost nothing drips.

How thick should the white sauce be?

Berry wants it medium-thick for this lasagne, which is what 40g each of butter and flour gives you. In the Cookery Course she says to use 30g of each for a thinner sauce or 50g of each for a thicker one. I’d keep it at 40g here, because the mushroom sauce already brings plenty of liquid.

Can I add butternut squash?

Yes, and Berry suggests it herself: “replace some of the mushrooms with butternut squash.” She also has a full Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagne in Mary Berry Cooks (2014), with the vegetables roasted first. If you like her vegetarian bakes, her roasted vegetable quiche is another one built around a tray of veg.

Should I wash the mushrooms?

No. The Cookery Course says to wipe them with a damp cloth to remove soil, “do not wash them,” then trim the stalks with a paring knife. Slice each one stalk-side down with a chef’s knife so the slices come out even and cook at the same rate.

How is it different from her meat lasagne?

Her Meat Lasagne in the same book uses Bolognese and just 50g Parmesan, with no spinach layer, but the dish, oven and 30-minute bake are identical. She says getting “the correct balance of pasta to sauce” is the key, and two layers of sheets suit her quantities. For another cheesy bake with a proper white sauce, try her cauliflower cheese.