Traditional fish pie—like many dishes in England—is made very simply, with white fish like pollock and sometimes smoked fish like haddock, a simple cream sauce, boiled egg, and parsley. Stein has a number of pie recipes, including one topped with mashed potato and made with heavy cream that’s pretty great. I was drawn to his simple “quick fish pie” recipe from his book, Simple Suppers. Made with store-bought puff pastry on top, it’s both beautiful and fast to pull together for a dinner party. If you can’t find puff pastry, you can substitute a store-bought or homemade pie crust.

What I liked about this recipe most was the smoky, rich sauce. Stein used smoked haddock to flavor the pie and started the sauce by poaching the haddock in milk to steep in that smoky flavor. I adapted the recipe to fish that’s easy for Alaskans to get their hands on and used a very salty, smoky salmon strip instead, which worked great. You could also use regular smoked salmon or, if you have it, a little smoked black cod. Stein uses boiled eggs in his pies, which I skipped due to the pickiness of my young pie eaters, but I did add peas, because they say “fish pie” to me.

British-style fish pie

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients:

Butter for the pan

2½ cups whole milk

½ large white onion

4 cloves

1 bay leaf

1¾ pounds white fish, like halibut or cod

3 ounces smoked salmon strips, skins cut off, or 3 ounces smoked salmon, skin removed

1 cup frozen peas

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 ounces sharp English Cheddar, grated

⅓ cup chopped parsley

2 teaspoons white wine or vermouth

Pinch of nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

1 8-ounce sheet store-bought puff pastry, thawed

1 tablespoon of milk to glaze

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400° F. In a 4- to 6-quart pot, place the milk, the onion studded with the cloves, the bay leaf, white fish, and smoked salmon. Bring the milk to a bubble, turn it down to a simmer, and allow the fish to poach for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the fish and the other solids. Discard the onion and bay leaf. Crumble the fish and arrange it inside a buttered 9-inch pie pan. Sprinkle the frozen peas on top. Set aside. Whisk the yolks and cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisking constantly, ladle some of the warm milk into the egg mixture. Then scrape that mixture back into the pan full of poaching liquid and return to medium heat.

Add wine or vermouth, allow mixture to boil gently for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken to a warm pudding texture. Add cheese, parsley, and nutmeg. Stir until cheese is melted, remove from the heat, taste, adjust salt and pepper. Pour over the fish in the pie pan. Roll out the puff pastry sheet so that it is at least an inch larger than the pan on all sides. Carefully place it on top of the pie, tuck it under the lip of the pan, press the edges with a fork, and trim excess. Prick the top a few times to let out the steam. Brush it with milk. Place the pie on a sheet pan to catch any overflow, and slide into the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s golden and puffed. Serve right away.

This recipe was originally published in Edible Alaska.

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I have been on the morning protein smoothie train for a while, not because my sugar-free green smoothies are delicious, but because they are healthy and fast and keep me from being possessed by a wolf-like hunger that leads to eating office doughnuts. This coffee serves the same purpose and is more tasty. And I’ll tell you what: a warm, fatty, fragrant potion, sipped while driving through the icy darkness in the morning, feels pretty right.

The flavor, if you add cinnamon, is a little like Mexican hot chocolate, but not too sweet. It took me a week of experimenting to get my ratios right. Another bonus: something about adding the fat mellows out my caffeine jitters. (I totally drink a non-butter “appetizer coffee” while making the butter one. I’d only recommend that for serious coffee drinkers.) I put a scoop of collagen peptides powder, which is basically just flavorless protein, at the bottom of my travel mug, pour the coffee from the blender in, put the top on, and shake it up. If you lack a blender, you could probably just give the whole concoction a vigorous shake in a closed container like a mug or jar and it would work fine.

One last thing, because Costco just knows things: Just about all the ingredients for bulletproof coffee are at Costco in Anchorage right now, including cacao powder, Kerrygold butter, MCT oil, and collagen peptides powder.

Bulletproof coffee

8 ounces hot coffee (decaf is fine, but caf is better)

1 tablespoon good quality butter, like Kerrygold brand

1 teaspoon cacao powder

Optional:

1 tablespoon MCT oil

1 10 gram scoop collagen peptides powder

1/2 teaspoon ceylon cinnamon, or more, depending on your preference

½ teaspoon vanilla

Liquid Stevia, to taste

Put the hot coffee, butter, cacao, and, if desired, cinnamon, MCT oil, vanilla and/or stevia in a blender. Blend on high for 30 seconds until frothy. If desired, put a scoop of collagen peptides in the bottom of the mug before pouring in the coffee and stir to combine. Consume immediately.

(Adapted from “The Mexican Keto Cookbook”)

This recipe was originally pushed in the “Anchorage Daily News.”

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You could make a version of this oatmeal by sprinkling in ground cardamon, cinnamon, even ground ginger for that matter. My version calls for whole spices that I use when making chai and steeps the oats the way I steep my tea. The flavor is mellower and more tea-like than if you were to use ground spices.

I used 7-minute steel-cut oats from Bob’s Red Mill, which are available in quantity at Costco (where, incidentally, I got a decent deal on dried cherries and pepitas). You could use regular steel cut oats, just follow the package directions to adjust the ratio of milk to dry oats. You could also make this recipe with regular steel cut oats in a slow-cooker overnight on low. In that case, I would increase the liquid by at least a half-cup. They come out much silkier with the overnight method. (You kind of can’t beat waking up to warm breakfast in a good-smelling kitchen.) Boost the protein by adding your favorite nuts instead of the seeds or a scoop of tahini. Throw in other spices like clove, black pepper or star anise. I like to serve mine with plain Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I don’t sweeten, because the milk has enough sugar for me, but you can also drizzle in some maple syrup.

My favorite hack: If you aren’t eating all the oatmeal immediately, you can scoop it while it’s hot into a small loaf pan or other small container. Then you can keep it, covered, in the refrigerator for several days where it will become very firm. Slice portions and heat to serve. Makes a great quick breakfast.

Chai-spiced steel-cut power oats

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup 7-minute steel cut oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

2 cups whole milk or non-dairy milk of your choice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon allspice

6 cardamon pods

2 cinnamon sticks

2 silver-dollar-sized coins of fresh ginger

1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup yellow raisins

1/2 to 3/4 cup pepitas, sunflower seeds or nuts of your choice

Method:

Over medium-low heat, mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly while it simmers for 7 minutes until thickened. Remove the ginger and cinnamon sticks. Serve with Greek yogurt and a splash of syrup.

This recipe was originally published in the Anchorage Daily News.

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This recipe is extra flexible, meant to accommodate whatever you’ve got on hand, including wide greens and fiddleheads. I like a 50/50 herbs-to-greens ratio, but I’ve made this recipe without any herbs or with just a handful and it’s been great.  The key is to taste it and adjust the salt and acid at the end. I didn’t put this in the ingredient list, but I also sometimes add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to give the sauce an extra tang when the greens are mild.

The other BIG SECRET, which comes from Alaska blogger Natasha Price, is the butter. Those couple tablespoons (make sure it’s room temp!) really bump up the flavor and help it coat the noodles. Add a little bit of pasta water and you’re golden.

Ingredients:

About 5 to 6 cups greens, roughly half sturdy (kale, arugula, chard, spinach, dandelion, fiddleheads, nettle or other wild greens, it’s nice to balance the bitter ones with the spicier ones) and half herbs (basil, tarragon, Italian parsley, even cilantro works, though in that case, maybe go lime instead of lemon, increase the acid a bit, forgo cheese and add some heat.)

2/3 cup seeds or nuts (hemp hearts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pistachios, and/or sunflower seeds work great.)

Block of parmesan, pecorino or romano about the size of a deck of cards, roughly chopped. Or about 1/2 cup grated.

2 cloves of garlic

Juice of half a lemon

1/2 cup good olive oil

2 tablespoons room-temperature butter

Pepper (to taste)

Sea salt (to taste)

Throw the cheese in the bowl of a food processor (a Vitamix blender will also work, but the pesto will be smoothie texture at the end) with the garlic and the seeds/nuts. Give it a good couple pulses so the cheese is broken down. Add the rest of the ingredients. Whir it around until it’s the desired texture. Add more oil, acid or salt, depending on your taste, and a grind of pepper. Toss with hot pasta (add a tablespoon or two of pasta water), store it in the fridge with a layer of olive oil over the top or portion into two small freezer bags and freeze. Makes enough for roughly 2 pounds pasta.

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Baked halibut is mentioned in Alaska’s cookbooks from the early part of the 20th century, but it’s usually cooked with tomato sauce. Canned tomatoes were shelf-stable and, as far as I can tell, commonly available. They figure in lots of halibut recipes.

The earliest recipe that I could find that calls for baking fish in a cream sauce is in an undated early-century cookbook in the Anchorage Museum collection: “Cook Book,” compiled by The Friendly Aid Society of the First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage.

That recipe, contributed by Mrs. H.W. Nagley, whose husband owned the general store in Talkeetna, is written for canned tuna, and calls for a homemade white sauce covered with “buttered crumbs or grated cheese.” A person could say it’s also an early relative of tuna-noodle casserole (which appears in many Alaska cookbooks from mid-20th century on, likely also related to the shelf-stable, affordable nature of canned tuna.)

Halibut Olympia-type dishes begin to appear in lots of cookbooks after World War II. By then, refrigeration would have been widely available. Recipes collected in church cookbooks also begin to show the influence of brands, like Best Foods, which is mentioned by name in a number of early baked halibut recipes.

In the Anchorage Women’s Club cookbook “Alaska’s Cooking,” published in 1959, a cook identified as “Mrs. John C. Tower” recommends broiling halibut with mayonnaise (“must be Best Foods,” she writes), lemon and finely-chopped onion.

Halibut Olympia has all kinds of regional variations. There’s halibut Caddy Ganty from Southeast, made with wine-soaked fish, rolled in breadcrumbs, covered with mayo, sour cream and chopped onion (there’s a very fine recipe for that in “A Collection of Recipes from The Gustavus Inn,” a cookbook every Alaska cook should own). There’s halibut Alyeska, made with grated cheddar on top and sautéed onions on the bottom. There’s halibut Sitka, made with chopped green onions in the mayo spread.

Classic Halibut Olympia

Serves 4

Roughly 2 pounds halibut, cut into four to six serving-sized pieces

2 to 3 cups white wine

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling over fish

Zest of one half a lemon

A couple dashes Tabasco sauce (optional)

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

One quarter large white onion, grated

Ritz crackers (roughly two per serving), crushed

Butter for the pan

At least two hours in advance, generously salt the fish, place in a large bowl, and cover with wine. About a half-hour before dinner, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Generously butter a baking pan. Prepare the sauce, whisking together sour cream, mayonnaise, Parmesan, lemon zest, Tabasco, grated onion and mustard. Salt to taste. Remove the fish from the wine and dry well with paper towels. Place the fish in the pan, spread each piece with topping, sprinkle with cracker crumbs and Parmesan. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the center of the thickest piece is still just a little translucent and the crackers have browned. Serve right away.

Find this and other historic Alaska recipes in my book, “The Whale and the Cupcake.”

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It is not my Nonna’s recipe, which I suspect was doctored Prego.

It is not my dad’s recipe. He’s Irish Catholic, one of nine children and excels at meat sauce with lots of wine, no garlic and mushrooms that feeds a crowd.

And it is not Sara’s dad Tony’s recipe, with its roots in a 200-year-old Pennsylvania steel town settled by Italian immigrants, which uses tomato sauce, hamburger and one peeled carrot.

This recipe carries shares DNA  with of all those recipes, but it is my own, developed over a thousand Sunday night, big-pot family dinners.

We are also all Alaskans, so this sauce has evolved as a way to use wild game. It is great with ground musk ox, venison, or moose. Absent that, I like bison. You can of course also use ground beef, turkey, veal or pork. The key is to mix leaner meat with Italian sausage, the best quality you can find. But this is Alaska, and we all know that sometimes you go to the supermarket on a Sunday and its like a hurricane is in the forecast and you can’t find half the things you need because the shelves are partly empty.

So, if you can’t get Italian sausage, you can cheat. Use a higher fat ground meat and 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, extra salt and a great big pinch of red pepper flakes.

A note on the canned tomatoes: San Marzano tomatoes are, for reasons unknown, usually on the bottom shelf in the tomato aisle. They also have them at Costco, from time to time. They are a really delicious variety and not too acidic. When I see them, I buy a couple and stick them in my cupboard. But, of course, sometimes you can’t find those. In that case, use regular crushed tomatoes (not tomato sauce). Look at the salt content and go as low as you can find. And, to temper the acidity a little, peel and finely chop a great big carrot and toss it in when you saute the onions and garlic.

A note on pasta: there really is something to cooking pasta correctly. Salt that water! And the pasta should be boiling pretty hard as it cooks. Set a timer. Cook the pasta for the exact minimum time recommended on the box. If you need GF pasta, go with Barilla. Who knows what’s in it, but if you cook it according to the box, it should be acceptable to everybody.

A note on texture: What makes this sauce awesome is texture. It is very uniform and that might be the most Italian thing about it. If we were Italians in the olden days, we’d put it through the food mill. Now, you have to use the favorite appliance of all my Italian relatives: the hand blender. It takes 60 seconds and it makes your sauce fantastic. Do it right in the pot. Absent a hand blender, you could use a good quality blender or food processor.

Sunday Night Spaghetti Sauce

Serves 8 -10 (or serves 4 and makes a second meal for the freezer)

Ingredients: 

Olive oil

1 pound ground bison. (You can go with just about any ground meat here. Wild game is great, moose, venison have all worked well for me.)

1 pound Italian sausage (casings removed)

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 onions, finely chopped

2 28-ounce cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes

1 cup red wine (this is a great way to use, say, $7 cabernet)

1/4 cup finely chopped basil

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley

Method:

Splash some olive oil to cover the bottom of a large heavy-bottomed pot. Brown the meat on medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft. Pour in the canned tomatoes and the wine. Turn heat down so the sauce is gently simmering. Simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Now, key moment: use the hand blender to blend the sauce and make it a uniform consistency. Taste it and adjust the salt. If it’s too sweet, add a little more wine. If it’s too acidic, add a pinch of sugar and a pinch of baking soda. If it’s too thick, add water mixed with wine. Stir in the chopped herbs and simmer on very low for 30 more minutes. Toss about half with a pound of very hot spaghetti and reserve the rest to spoon on top like gravy.  Serve with parmesan cheese.

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Officially, it’s called “pasta aglio e olio,” that’s Italian for ” pasta garlic and olive oil.” I actually made it for my Italian relatives once. They loved it, but they had never heard of it before.

All the ingredients you need: dry pasta, garlic, red pepper flakes and parmesan. You can also throw in olives or any vegetable that is about to die in the fridge. Kale and broccolini are great.

Pasta Aglio e Olio

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti
4 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cup parmesan plus more for the table
Salt and pepper

Instructions: 

Put well salted water on to boil. I sometimes also put my pasta bowls in the over and turn it on to warm them up. In the mean time, finely chop the garlic. In a large frying pan, pour enough good olive oil to cover the bottom. Over medium heat, sauté garlic and a big pinch of red pepper flakes (I like to go hard on the red pepper, personally.) Pull it off the heat just as the garlic begins to brown. You can, during this step, throw in vegetables or olives. When the water is boiling, slide in the pasta and set a timer so you don’t overcook it. While you wait, grate the parmesan. KEY: When the pasta is ready, but before you drain it, dunk a measuring cup into the pot and collect about a cup of hot, starchy pasta water. Put the garlic pan back on the hot burner (you probably don’t even have to turn it on for the oil to start bubbling) throw the drained pasta in the pan, and toss it around with a pair of tongs. Shake the parmesan on top of the pasta and pour about a half cup of the water over the parmesan to melt it and make the pasta saucy. Toss to combine. Salt and pepper generously. Serve immediately in warm bowls.

Here’s a video of me making this dish on KTVA. Below, the pasta, ready for its close-up.

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I developed the recipe for Winter Coconut Truffles as an anti-pumpkin spice offering.  You can make a real from-scratch production of it by roasting your own winter squash and candying your own ginger (recommend!), but there’s no shame in canned pumpkin and bulk bin candied ginger.  These truffles can be made coconutastic – and vegan to boot! – by subbing in a nice fatty coconut cream for the dairy cream.  I love the combination of hearty, homey, super-seasonal winter squash with the zing of ginger and tropical tranquility of coconut.  

Additionally, truffles hand-rolled in chocolate and then tossed in fun stuff like shredded coconut are way more fun and forgiving when Chef Kid is in the kitchen!

Winter Squash Coconut Truffles

makes 30-40 truffles

This recipe involves using tempered chocolate to coat the ganache.  Tempering can be an intimidating task for the home cook new to chocolate work, but fear not!  You can do this!  A good definition and set of directions/explanations for tempering chocolate can be found here.  

Ganache (for INSIDE the truffles)

1 ¼ Cup (6.5 ounces) finely chopped dark chocolate, 60-70% cacao

½ Cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 Cup winter squash puree (pumpkin, butternut, buttercup, acorn…)

1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. maple syrup

1 Tbsp. unrefined coconut oil or coconut butter

1/3 – ½ Cup chopped candied ginger

¼ tsp. powdered ginger

Pinch salt

For coating

Approx. 2# dark chocolate

3 Cups unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted in a pan and cooled completely

The day before, making the ganache:

Dump chocolate in a small-to-medium bowl, set aside.  

Caramelize your squash of choice: place puree into a wide skillet or pot.  Over medium heat, push and fold the puree around until the color deepens and puree seems slightly drier/stiffer, 10-15 minutes.  

Combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan.  Set over medium heat and stir frequently until mixture bubbles and stirring does not disrupt bubbling.  Pour hot mixture over chocolate and briefly stir to moisten chocolate.  Let rest 3-4 minutes, allowing the hot cream mixture to melt the chocolate.  Once nicely melted and slightly cooled, fold gently with a rubber spatula until mixture is smooth and homogenous.  If mixture looks greasy, whisk briefly to bring together.  Scrape down sides of bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the ganache.  Cover the bowl with another piece of plastic wrap.  Set aside 8 hours or overnight.

Portioning the ganache:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Portion ganache as you would cookie dough using two spoons or a small cookie scoop.  Grape/olive size or slightly larger is perfect.  Cover sheet tray with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour. (If you have not toasted the coconut, you can do this while you wait.)

Coating the ganache balls:

Place toasted coconut in a large, wide bowl, and grab a couple spoons, too.  Bring portioned ganache back to room temperature while you begin tempering your coating chocolate. Once coating chocolate is tempered, set aside.  Working with clean, dry hands (or latex gloves) to quickly roll the portioned ganache into round-ish balls.  The heat of your hands will melt the ganache if you dawdle!  

With the portions all rolled into ball-ish shapes, work one-by-one to apply a coat of tempered chocolate to each ball: with clean, dry hands make a small puddle of chocolate in the palm of your non-dominant hand and use the other hand to roll the ball around and around until totally smothered in chocolate.  Immediately toss into toasted coconut and quickly bury to coat completely.  Remove from coconut, proceed with remaining balls.(We also experimented with cocoa powder.)

Truffles can be stored at cool room temperature for 3 days, or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week.  Bring back to room temperature before enjoying!

Left-over chocolate!  Dip some stuff in it!  Figs, candied ginger, nuts, orange slices…  The chocolate can also be recycled for future baking projects: spread in a thin layer on parchment paper.  Once dry and firm, chop it up and store in a zip-top bag.

Lindsay Clark spent a very formative life-changing 5 years chocolatiering in Alaska at Modern Dwellers Chocolate Lounge before moving to Pittsburgh and starting her business Coddle & Cosset in 2014.

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First, we melted some butter with crushed garlic. We whisked in some dijon. Then we crushed up some Saltines and mixed them with good-quality parmesan and set up a work station. We portioned up the once-frozen salmon. We dredged the salmon in the dijon mixture and then rolled it in the Saltine mix. We added a little sprinkle of sea salt and some pepper to each piece. Then we baked it in a hot oven for about 8 minutes. (I might add a little pat of butter to each piece next time, just for good measure.)

Cousin Tanya’s Saltine Salmon

Serves 6, generously

Ingredients:

About 3 pounds fresh or previously frozen salmon (we used Copper River red)

6 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

4 tablespoons dijon mustard

About 20 Saltines (half a sleeve), you can sub 2 cups panko crumbs or 2 cups GF panko

1 cup good parmesan, grated with a microplane grater

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 425°. Melt the butter on medium low heat, add the garlic, heat until bubbling. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and whisk in the dijon so it’s well combined. Put the saltines in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Pour the cracker crumbs in a separate bowl and mix in the cheese. Portion up the salmon. Set up a little work station, with salmon on a plate, the dijon mixture, the cracker mixture and a parchment-covered sheet pan. Coat each piece in dijon garlic butter, roll in crumbs and then set on the sheet pan. Once you’re done, sprinkle everything with sea salt and pepper, and if you want, add a little pat of butter to each piece. Slide into the oven and set the timer for 7 minutes. Check the thickest piece. If it isn’t done, remove the thinner pieces and give it a minute or two more. Serve right away.

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This is my favorite time of year in Anchorage. It’s cool, rainy and above all, the forests are chock full of mushrooms. It’s a veritable fairy wonderland out there!

I grew up foraging boletus mushrooms (wild porcini) and this year they have been abundant. It’s prime mushroom time right now in Anchorage. If you’re interested in foraging boletes, check out my handy mushroom guide for an introduction (but be sure to read my disclaimer).

I found about six boletes in my front yard and decided they should go into a lasagna with white sauce to really show off their deep, woodsy flavor.

This. was. splendid. Creamy, cheesy, rich and mushroomy. All the things that are delicious. The boletes add such flavor and depth that meat wasn’t missed.

You can use grocery store crimini or button mushrooms if you don’t have fresh boletes. If you reconstitute dried porcini, I would use half crimini and half reconstituted as they are sometimes tough after they’ve been dried.

White lasagna with spinach, zucchini and porcini

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• dried lasagna noodles
• 8 oz. fresh porcini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (subsitute crimini or button if needed)
• 1 package of chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of liquid
• 1 egg
• 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1 cup shredded parmesan
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1, 16-oz carton of whole-milk cottage cheese
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• butter

For the béchamel:

• 2 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Boil noodles according to directions.

Meanwhile, slice the mushrooms and zucchini. Sauté the mushrooms in butter until softened and the liquid has evaporated from them, about 7 minutes. Set aside.

In the same pan, sauté the zucchini in butter until softened, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together the spinach, cottage cheese, egg, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, 1/4 cup of parmesan, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Once the noodles are drained and are cooling, make the béchamel. Heat up the milk in a small saucepan over medium-low flame until just below a simmer. In a medium saucepan melt the butter. Add the flour and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for one minute. Add the one clove of minced garlic and continue to stir another minute while it bubbles but does not brown. Pour the milk in 1/4 cup at a time, stirring all the while, until it’s creamy. Turn off heat.

Assembly: Pour a 1/4 cup of béchamel into the bottom of the lasagna pan and lay down three noodles. Top with half the spinach mixture. Layer on half the mushrooms. Add another layer of noodles. Spread on another bit of béchamel, then half the zucchini. Sprinkle on some mozzarella cheese and add another layer of noodles. Add the rest of the spinach mixture and mushrooms and add one last layer of noodles. Spread on some béchamel, then add the rest of the zucchini and top with parmesan and mozzarella. Drizzle on any remaining sauce and top with some freshly ground pepper.

Top with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

I’m happy to carry on my family’s foraging traditions. Here’s a photo of my son picking a prime king bolete. He’s as thrilled as a boy on Christmas morning.

Check out other Alaska recipes by Natasha here.

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