April 15, 2004
Shiso-chorizo lasagne

recipe thursdayTod & I invented this one together earlier this week and have been eating it ever since. It makes good leftovers.

The fusion of Spanish and Japanese flavours surprised me. “Chorizo” in Japan is more like a slightly spicy frankfurter than the proper Spanish chorizo, so we added a little cayenne to the mix to pep it up. Shiso, aka perilla, is a piquant relative of basil but accept no substitutes. The mushrooms add an earthy flavor that tie the whole thing together—if you can’t find fresh shitake or maitake, portabello would substitute. To make this simple, I use an Italian brand of jarred pasta sauce that’s heavy on the garlic and contains no sugar.

Shiso-chorizo Lasange
1 pkg lasagne noodles, cooked al dente
300 g cottage cheese
1 egg
5 shiso leaves, shredded
2 cups mozzarella, grated
1 ball fresh mozzarella
8 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
12 button mushrooms, sliced
300 g maitake mushrooms, chopped
8 links “chorizo”
pinch cayenne
1 jar garlicly tomato pasta sauce
Olive oil for sautéing
salt and black pepper to taste

Saute the mushrooms in olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. Evaporate off the liquid, remove from pan and set aside. Before adding to the lasagne, drain any additional liquid that has accumulated.

Slice the chorizo into thin rounds, sprinkle with cayenne and fry briefly.

Mix the cottage cheese, egg and shiso. Season with black pepper and salt.

In the bottom of a rectangular baking pan, spread a tablespoon of sauce. This will help prevent the lasagne from sticking to the pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, then start layering the fillings, sauce and noodles to your liking. Top with a final layer of noodles, sauce and slices of fresh mozzarella.

Bake at 175/350 for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and brown. Allow to “set up” for about ten minutes before cutting.

Posted by kuri at April 15, 2004 09:32 AM

Comments

I still have a fear of lasagna and so I’ll never know how tasty this is.

Posted by: Fran on April 15, 2004 09:43 PM

I bought an oven on the weekend as I am so keen to try out your receipes and share some of my own with you.

BTW have you ever seen sheets of puff pastry in Japanese supermarkets? If so I have one of my fave receipes to share with you as soon as I try out some Japanese ingredients for that local flavour!!

Posted by: Tracey on April 19, 2004 04:49 PM

I’m tempted to test the lasagne rule around here and try this, but I think I’d have to accept a substitute for the shiso.

Posted by: Jenny on April 20, 2004 12:46 AM

That sounds awesome. I’m definitely gonna try it. Thanks!

Posted by: A guy from Rennes FR on April 28, 2004 01:15 AM
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