Portobello Lasagna with Almond Pesto

This dish looks funny and sounds weird, but it’s really yummy. It’s also really filling so plan on having a few meals’ worth of leftovers.

This recipe is adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray.

½ cup EVOO

2 tbsp olive oil

5 Portobello mushroom caps, thinly sliced

Two 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes with Italian herbs

3 cups sliced almonds

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 large cloves of garlic, chopped

1 lemon, zested and juiced

lasagna noodles

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Toast the almonds either in batches in a dry skillet over medium heat (or all at once if you’ve got a ginormous skillet) or on a baking sheet in the oven. Toast until fragrant (3-5 minutes in a skillet, 5-8 minutes in the oven).

3. Combine toasted almonds, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, parmesan cheese and ½ cup EVOO in a food processor. Blend until it becomes a paste. Set aside.

4. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until softened, 3-8 minutes. Set aside.

5. Add tomatoes to the skillet. Cook, scraping up any mushroom tidbits, until softened (6-8 minutes).

6. Spread half of the tomatoes along the bottom of a lasagna pan. Cover with the appropriate number of lasagna noodles (either 2 or 3). Layer a third of the pesto over the noodles, then half of the mozzarella and half of the mushrooms. Top with lasagna noodles, a third of the pesto, most of the remaining mozzarella and the rest of the mushrooms. Add a final layer of noodles, the rest of the pesto and the rest of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella.

7. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.

8. Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

9. Once again, there’s this rule about letting lasagna sit for 10 minutes before serving. We say, screw it and dig in.