Pesto lasagna is a pleasant alternative to meaty lasagna, and is especially suited to the summer months. Like its cousin, spaghetti al pesto, it's Ligurian. For the pesto sauce you will need:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- A cup of fresh basil (about 30 leaves)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano
- 2 tablespoons grated Tuscan or Sardinian pecorino – Romano is too sharp; if need be increase the Parmigiano
- 1/2 cup excellent olive oil
- 1/3 cup pine nuts (optional)
- Salt to taste
- A pound (500 g) of lasagne, either fresh or dried, and more grated Parmigiano
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 385 F (190 C) and set pasta water to boil.
Mince, in a food processor, the basil, garlic, cheeses, and a pinch of salt; you should aim for a uniform paste, rather than a liquid. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the oil in a slow stream, stirring so as to amalgamate it.
If the lasagne are fresh, cut the sheets into four inch squares if need be. Salt the boiling pasta water, add a spoonful of oil to it so the sheets won’t stick, and add the pasta. Cook it till it’s al dente, and then remove the sheets with a slotted spoon and set them to drain on a clean cloth. Stir two tablespoons of the pasta water into the pesto.
Melt a dab of butter in a hot serving dish, then lay down a layer of pasta and a thin layer of pesto, sprinkle the pesto with grated cheese, and lay down another layer of pasta. Continue alternating pasta and pesto till all is used up, heat through in the oven, and serve.
Serves four.
Note: This pesto sauce will work equally well with spaghetti (don't bake them, however).
A Wine? Vermentino di Ponente, a Ligurian white, would be nice here.
Mince, in a food processor, the basil, garlic, cheeses, and a pinch of salt; you should aim for a uniform paste, rather than a liquid. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the oil in a slow stream, stirring so as to amalgamate it.
If the lasagne are fresh, cut the sheets into four inch squares if need be. Salt the boiling pasta water, add a spoonful of oil to it so the sheets won’t stick, and add the pasta. Cook it till it’s al dente, and then remove the sheets with a slotted spoon and set them to drain on a clean cloth. Stir two tablespoons of the pasta water into the pesto.
Melt a dab of butter in a hot serving dish, then lay down a layer of pasta and a thin layer of pesto, sprinkle the pesto with grated cheese, and lay down another layer of pasta. Continue alternating pasta and pesto till all is used up, heat through in the oven, and serve.
Serves four.
Note: This pesto sauce will work equally well with spaghetti (don't bake them, however).
A Wine? Vermentino di Ponente, a Ligurian white, would be nice here.
