You can now buy 1.25kg Ivy’s Reserve Vintage Cheddar.
As the days grow shorter and the first chill arrives, autumn calls for food that is warming, generous and made to be shared. Grandmother Ivy was a great cook as well as a pioneering cheesemaker, and we like to think she would have approved of this comforting lasagne. Roasted wild mushrooms, nutty brown butter and her signature Vintage Cheddar come together beautifully in a dish made for long, cosy suppers around the table.
For the mushrooms
15g dried mushrooms, soaked in warm water
1kg mixed mushrooms, torn into quarters
3 tbsp olive oil
40g Ivy’s reserve salted butter
2 shallots, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp dried thyme
15 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsps soy sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
200g cooked artichokes in oil, drained and roughly chopped
Salt & pepper
For the brown butter Cheddar sauce
100g Ivy’s reserve salted butter
75g plain flour
1 litre whole milk, warmed
150g Ivy’s Somerset Reserve Vintage Cheddar, grated
50g Parmesan, finely grated
1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard
Freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and black pepper
To assemble
250g dried lasagne sheets
75g Ivy’s Reserve Vintage Cheddar, grated
25g Parmesan, grated
40g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
50g Ivy’s reserve salted butter
15 sage leaves
Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan.
Spread the mushrooms over two baking trays, season generously with salt and drizzle with the olive oil and roast for 20–25 minutes, stirring once, until they have released their moisture and started to caramelise.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook until it turns a deep golden brown and smells nutty. Add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and dried thyme and cook for another minute. Add the roasted mushrooms, strain the soaked mushrooms and chop finely. Add to the pan with the soy sauce and plenty of black pepper. Cook for 4–5 minutes until everything is glossy and intensely savoury. Stir through the parsley and artichokes and set aside.
To make the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Continue cooking until the milk solids turn golden brown and the butter smells nutty. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the warm milk until smooth, then simmer gently for 5–8 minutes until thickened.
Stir in the Cheddar, Parmesan, Dijon mustard, a generous grating of nutmeg and season to taste.
Reduce the oven to 190°C/170°C fan.
Spoon a little cheese sauce into the base of a large baking dish. Add a layer of lasagne sheets, followed by mushrooms and more cheese sauce. Repeat until everything is used, finishing with a generous layer of sauce.
Scatter over the remaining Cheddar and Parmesan and hazelnuts.
Bake for 40–45 minutes, until bubbling and deeply golden. If the top colours too quickly, loosely cover with foil for the final 15 minutes. Leave to rest for 15 minutes before serving.
While you wait for the lasagne to rest, melt the remaining butter in a small frying pan and fry the sage leaves until they curl, crisp and the sizzle dies down. Arrange the leaves over the top of the lasagne. Serve a generous portion of the lasagne with lemony wilted kale or cooked broccoli.
Cook's tip: Roasting the mushrooms rather than frying them keeps them meaty and concentrated, while browning the butter adds a deep, toasted flavour that echoes the nuttiness of the mature Cheddar.
