Gnocchi with cavolo nero & sausage

For ➍

2 salsicce or other pork sausages

3 tbs sunflower oil

1 tbs fennel seeds

500 g  gnocchi

800 g Italian stir-fry mix cavolo nero* 

Remove the skin from the sausages. Heat ⅓ of the oil in a frying pan and fry the sausage meat with the fennel seeds 3 m over medium heat until golden brown. While cooking, press the meat into pieces with a wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan and fry the gnocchi 8 m. Over medium heat until golden yellow and done. Toss regularly.

Add the stir-fry vegetables to the sausage meat and fry for 7 m while stirring over high heat. 

Add the gnocchi, season with salt and pepper and serve.

*Or make a mix from cavolo nero cabbage, chestnut mushrooms, broccoli & scallion.

Spinach & mushrooms

For ➍

125 g smoked bacon

1 clove of garlic

250 g chestnut mushrooms

600 g spinach (washed)

50 g Parmigiano Reggiano

Heat a frying pan without oil or butter and fry the bacon in 6 m. Turn regularly. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Clean the mushrooms with kitchen paper. Slice the mushrooms and garlic.

Fry the garlic 1 m g. Add the mushrooms and fry for 5 m. Heat another frying pan without oil or butter, add the spinach in parts and let it shrink while stirring. Drain in a colander.

Use the convex side of a spoon to push out as much liquid as possible. Season with pepper and salt if desired. Mix in a bowl with the mushrooms and bacon.

Grate the cheese on top and serve.

Mushroom lasagne

For ➏

750 g chestnut mushrooms, halved 

500 g oyster mushrooms 

13 cl olive oil, plus extra for greasing 

60 g dried porcini 

30 g dried wild mushrooms 

2 dried red chillies, roughly chopped, (remove the seeds for a less spicy result) 

50 cl hot vegetable stock 

1 onion, peeled, quartered 

5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 

1 carrot, scraped, quartered, 90 g 

2-3 roma tomatoes, quartered, 200 g 

75 g tomato paste 

13 cl whipped cream* 

60 g pecorino romano, finely grated* 

60 g Parmigiano, finely grated* 

5 g basil leaves, finely chopped 

10 g parsley leaves, finely chopped, plus 1 ts extra for dressing 

250 g dried lasagne sheets (approx. 14 sheets)** 

salt & black pepper

Heat the oven to 230 °C. 

Place the chestnut and oyster mushrooms in three or four batches in the large bowl of a food processor and chop finely using the pulse button (or chop by hand). In a large mixing bowl, toss the chopped mushrooms with 3 tbs oil and 1 ts salt and spread on a large, parchment-lined baking tray with a raised edge measuring 40 x 35 cm. Bake them in the top of the oven for 30 m, turning them three times in between until the mushrooms are golden brown; the volume will have shrunk considerably. Set them aside. Lower the oven temperature to 200 °C.

Meanwhile, in another mixing bowl, mix the dried mushrooms with chilies and hot stock and soak for 30 m. Strain the liquid into a third bowl and press as much moisture as possible out of the mushrooms, you will need about 34 cl in total; top up the soaking water with fresh water if necessary. Chop the soaked mushrooms very coarsely (so that there are also large pieces) and chop the chilies. Set aside the stock and mushrooms separately. 

Chop the onion, garlic and carrot in the food processor with the pulse button (or by hand). Heat 6 cl oil in a large sauté pan over medium to high heat. When hot, add the onion mixture and cook for 8 m, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and golden brown. 

Chop the tomatoes in the food processor with the pulse button (or chop them by hand), add them with the tomato paste, 1½  ts salt and 1¾ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper. Let everything simmer for 7 m, stirring occasionally. Add the soaked mushrooms, chilies and toasted mushrooms and let everything cook gently for 9 m, resist the urge to stir: the mushrooms should be slightly crispy and brown on the underside. 

Stir in the reserved stock and 80 cl water, turn the heat to medium-high when everything is simmering gently and let the sauce simmer for about 25 m, stirring occasionally until it has the consistency of ragout. Stir 10 cl of whipped cream into the sauce and let it simmer for 2 m more then take the pan off the heat. 

Mix the pecorino and Parmigino with basil and parsley in a small bowl. When assembling the lasagna, spread one-fifth of the sauce over the bottom of a round baking dish of 28 cm in diameter (or a rectangular dish of 30 x 20 cm), spread one-fifth of the cheese mixture on top, followed by a layer of lasagne sheets, broken where necessary to make them fit. Repeat these layers three times in the same order, finishing with a layer of sauce and cheese: a total of five layers of sauce and cheese, and four layers of pasta. 

Drizzle the top with 1 tbs of cream and 1 tbs of oil, cover the dish with aluminum foil and put it in the oven for 15 m. Remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 220 ° C and bake the lasagna for another 12 m, turning the dish halfway through the baking time. Switch the oven to the grill setting and grill the lasagna for 2 m until the edge is brown and crispy. 

Put the bowl aside, let the lasagna cool for about 5 m, then drizzle the top with the remaining whipped cream and oil. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley, finally grind a generous twist of pepper and serve. 

*Discard for vegan version.

**Make it ahead of time and refrigerate it to serve it with pasta or polenta and save yourself the trouble of putting together a lasagna if you don't have much time. You can prepare the lasagna in advance, put it in the refrigerator and bake it the next day (after it has reached room temperature). 

This special ragout pays tribute to the penne all'Aconese,  served at Restaurante Pizzeria Acone, a community-run restaurant in the Tuscan town of Acone. The recipe is a carefully kept secret, but the complex, earthy and full umami flavor of dried porcini is not to be missed. This is Ottolenghi's meatless take on that mythical sauce.

Mushroom & lemon pasta

For ➍
3 tbs olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

7 cloves garlic, finely chopped

250 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced

250 g pasta (penne, rigatoni, spaghetti, farfalle)

250 ml vegetable cooking cream

1 tbs thyme

½ ts black pepper

1 tbs nutritional yeast flakes*

1 tbs miso paste

100 g cherry tomatoes, cut in half

15 g basil + extra for garnish

zest 1 lemon

1 tbs lemon juice

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbs oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Bake for 10 m, stirring, until most of the moisture from the mushrooms has evaporated.

Add the cooking cream, thyme, black pepper, nutritional yeast*, miso paste, tomatoes, basil, the lemon zest and lemon juice to the mushrooms. Stir and let simmer for 2 m. Then add the pasta and 1 tbs olive oil.

Garnish with extra basil and possibly vegan Parmigiano*.

* Replace with Parmigiano for a non-vegan version.

Foam omelet with chestnut mushrooms & red onion

For ➋
1 tbs liquid baking product or butter
½ red onion, in half rings
1 sprig of thyme, only the leaves, or ¼ ts dried thyme
125 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
3 eggs, split
2 scallions, in rings

Heat the baking product and fry the onion rings for about 4 m. Add the thyme and the mushrooms and stir fry for a few more m. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with a few tbs of water and spoon the mushroom mixture through it.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff with some salt. Carefully spoon this through the mixture.
Pour this mass back into the same frying pan and let it cook slowly with the lid on the pan for about 5 m.
Turn the omelet over using a flat plate and cook for another 5 m.
Cut the omelet into 4 points and serve immediately. Delicious with a salad and potatoes from the oven as a main dish and with some bread as a lunch dish.

*You can also add strips of ham or smoked chicken.