Farmer's Finds

I've only been living here a week and already we've found an amazing Saturday morning farmer's market. Durban is filled with markets selling wares and trinkets but on my last few visits here I still had not found a good, dependable farmer's market. Problem solved when I heard about the Shongweini farmer's market in Hillcrest - a short 20 minute drive out of the city. The area is known for its beautiful hills spotted with artisan houses selling their creations and of course farms. After about 20 minutes of getting lost on winding, hilly roads, admiring the landscape, and feeling lucky that we were living in this beautiful country we stumbled (finally asked for directions) upon the Shongweni farmer's market. We purchased a weeks' worth of vegetables, fruit, cheese and bread for under 12 bucks! Amazing.

I hope to make the purchases from this market a weekly edition to this blog - baking and cooking what is grown locally. We passed a stall with beautiful mushrooms - oyster, portobellos, white top, button etc. and purchased enough to feed the three friends that we have made since we moved here. Yes, we only have three friends! We invited them over for dinner and decided to make Ina Garten's portobello mushroom lasagna. We followed the recipe but instead of using only portobellos we used a mixture of mushrooms that we purchased from the market. I also thought the recipe called for too many noodles - on average we used about three per a layer and made three layers - so anywhere from 9 - 12 noodles should be enough. But all in all it was a lovely meal for guests - we were able to enjoy appetizers while dinner was cooking itself in the oven.
Mushroom Lasagna
adapted from Ina Garten

kosher salt
olive oil
12 lasagna noodles
4 cups whole milk
12 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon salt and a splash of oil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and set aside.

For the white sauce, bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan. Set aside. Melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring first with the wooden spoon and then with a whisk, for 3 to 5 minutes, until thick. Set aside off the heat.

Separate the mushroom stems from the caps and discard the stems. Slice the caps 1/4-inch thick. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large (12-inch) saute pan. When the butter melts, add the mushrooms and cook until tender.

To assemble the lasagna, spread some of the sauce in the bottom of an 8 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, then 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. Repeat 2 more times, layering noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and Parmesan. Top with a final layer of noodles and sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.
Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes