A Bitten Word Recipe
Our regular farmers market, Sunday mornings in Dupont Circle, is back to bursting. The flower stands are overflowing with beautiful tulips and irises; fresh spring vegetables are everywhere, and there's an overall excited energy about the place again. We were giddy -- maybe inappropriately so -- to learn a few weeks ago that the market not only opens a half hour earlier this season, but has also expanded by a block!
We had guests coming over for dinner last week and wanted a dish that would really show off all this terrific produce that's at the market right now, so we decided to try our hand at a spring lasagna.
Before we get into it, though, we know what you're asking: What exactly are stinging nettles?
We'd heard of stinging nettles in the past, but to be completely honest, we weren't totally sure what they were. (A flower? A kind of cactus?) Turns out they're a plant with leaves you can cook like a loose green, a lot like collards or flat-leaf kale. Zach had them for the first time last month during a work trip to Seattle. At the city's buzzed-about Sitka & Spruce, he had halibut with wilted stinging nettles. We couldn't wait to try cooking with stinging nettles at home!
Turns out, we didn't have to wait at all. Two weeks ago, we spied stinging nettles at the Dupont farmers market! Destiny!
If you're as unfamiliar with stinging nettle as we were, it's an herbaceous plant that's been used in medicines for centuries, and as an ingredient in cuisines everywhere from Britain and Northern Europe to India and Nepal. It gets its name from the tiny hairs along its leaves, which, according to Wikipedia, "act like hypodermic needles that inject histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and other animals." (Yikes!)
Nothing says "appetizing" quite like "hypodermic needles"!
Photo via Wikipedia Commons.
Cooking the nettles (or even just soaking them in water) removes the stinging chemical and makes them completely safe to eat. But one word of caution: Be really careful when you're handling them. Don't wash or trim them without wearing gloves. Seriously. They sting. (Which you'd think we would have figured out by the name, but that didn't stop each of us from absent-mindedly grabbing the raw leaves, only to jerk back in pain.) If you can't find stinging nettles or just don't want to fool with them, you can substitute baby spinach.
Anyway, this lasagna.
Several months ago, one of Clay's coworkers had given him a Xeroxed copy of an April 1992 Gourmet recipe for Asparagus Lasagne, saying it was one of her favorite recipes of all time. Then, the March 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living included a recipe for a Sausage, Chard and Lemon Lasagna that sounded bright and fresh and lovely. So we decided to combine those two recipes, tweak them a lot and double the whole thing to make enough for a dinner for six. We ended up with this Spring Lasagna. (We're including all three recipes below.)
Like any lasagna, the prep work here is all about getting your filler ingredients ready; the layering and baking is the easy part. There are a lot of steps to the recipe, but they're not too time-consuming. And preparing most of the filler ingredients sequentially in one saucepan makes for easier clean-up. So, yeah, it's a lot of little steps: Brown the meat, sauté the asparagus, sauté the nettles, boil the lemons, make the roux and then layer everything and bake it. But it's not that hard -- we made the whole thing one night last week after work, and we still managed to get dinner on the table by 8 p.m.
So how does it taste?
Excellent! We loved all the great fresh spring tastes -- the verdant and crisp asparagus and peas paired very well with the bright, citrusy lemon and the spicy-sweet Italian sausage. The stinging nettles have a really great flavor, like a slightly spicier, darker spinach. And the creamy roux is punched up by the sharpness of the Parmesan and the goat cheese, but it's still light enough so that it doesn't overpower the veggies.
All in all, this lasagna is an ideal way to highlight the greatest tastes of the season. (And you could easily swap in other fresh vegetables, like broccoli or chard.) We loved it, and we think you'll like it too!
Spring Lasagna with Asparagus, Peas and Stinging Nettles
A Recipe from TheBittenWord.com, with inspiration from Martha Stewart Living and Gourmet
Serves 6-8
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed
1 medium white onion, diced
5 cups loose stinging nettle leaves (see note); baby spinach can be substituted
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
4 ounces mild goat cheese
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 lemons, very thinly sliced
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
Note on preparing stinging nettles: Wearing gloves, place fresh nettles on a cutting board. Separate the leaves from the stalk. You can use the stems and leaves from the top 6 or 8 leaves on each stalk. You can also use the lower leaves, but discard the thicker stems as well as the main stalk, as they will be too thick and reedy to eat.
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare stinging nettle leaves (see note above), and prepare asparagus: Cut the tips off of each asparagus spear and reserve them. Then cut asparagus spears into 1/2-inch pieces and set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium high heat, cook sausage, breaking up pieces, until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to paper towel-lined plate.
Into same saucepan, add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, then the pieces of asparagus spears. Sauté asparagus until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add remaining olive oil to pan, then add diced onion and sauté until just softened and beginning to turn golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add stinging nettle leaves and sauté until wilted and cooked through, about 3 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cover lemon slices with cold water by 3 inches in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate using a slotted spoon.
Make the roux: Melt butter in a different saucepan over high heat. Stir in flour; cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in Parmesan and goat cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Spread 1/4 cup of the roux in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, then top with a layer of noodles. Top with sautéed asparagus, half the sausage, one third of the remaining roux, and another layer of noodles. Top that with sautéed nettles and onions, peas, half the remaining roux, half the lemon slices, the remaining sausage and another layer of noodles. Arrange the remaining lemon slices and the reserved asparagus tips on the top layer, then pour on the remaining roux.
Cover dish with parchment-lined aluminum foil and bake 28 minutes, until top is golden and bubbly. (You may want to finish it under a broiler for 2 minutes.) Let stand 10 minutes.
Sausage, Chard, and Lemon Lasagna
Martha Stewart Living (March 2011)
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Serves 4
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups whole milk
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 ounces)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
5 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard (about 1 bunch)
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 lemon, very thinly sliced
6 no-boil lasagna noodles, preferably Barilla
DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a saucepan over high heat. Stir in flour; cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat. Simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Whisk in 3/4 cup cheese, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in chard.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook sausage in a skillet over high heat, breaking up pieces, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.
Cover lemon slices with cold water by 3 inches in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate using a slotted spoon.
Spread 1/4 cup sauce in an 8-inch square nonreactive baking dish. Top with 2 noodles, half the sausage, and 1 cup sauce. Repeat. Top with a layer of lemons, 2 noodles, then remaining sauce and lemons. Bake, covered with parchment-lined foil, for 27 minutes.
Remove from oven. Heat broiler. Uncover lasagna; top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Broil until bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes.
Asparagus Lasagne
Gourmet (April 1992)
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS
4 pounds asparagus, trimmed
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
six 7- by 6 1/4-inch sheets of instant (no-boil) lasagne
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
7 ounces mild goat cheese such as Montrachet
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, or to taste
1 2/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup heavy cream
Cut the tips off each asparagus spear and reserve them. In each of 2 large shallow baking pans toss half the asparagus stalks with half the oil, coating them well, and roast them in a preheated 500 degree oven, shaking the pans every few minutes, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until they are crisp-tender. Sprinkle the asparagus with salt to taste and let it cool. Cut the roasted asparagus into 1/2-inch lengths and reserve it.
In a large bowl of cold water let the sheets of lasagne soak for 15 minutes, or until they are softened. In a saucepan melt the butter, add the flour, and cook the roux over moderately low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the broth and the water in a stream, whisking, simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, and whisk in the goat cheese, the zest, and salt to taste, whisking until the sauce is smooth.
Drain the pasta well, arrange 1 sheet of it in each of 2 buttered 8-inch-square baking dishes, and spread each sheet with one fourth of the sauce. Top the sauce in each dish with one fourth of the reserved roasted asparagus and sprinkle the asparagus with 1/3 cup of the Parmesan. Continue to layer the pasta, the sauce, the asparagus and the Parmesan in the same manner, ending with a sheet of pasta. In a bowl beat the cream with a pinch of salt until it holds soft peaks. Arrange the reserved asparagus tips decoratively on the pasta, spoon the cream over the pasta and the asparagus tips, spreading it with the back of the spoon, and sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan on top. Bake the lasagne in the middle of a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until it is golden and bubbling, and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.