This is a very easy recipe that will be quite nice on Valentine's Day. The pears provide a pleasant sweetness and texture that contrasts nicely with the saltiness of the speck, and the creaminess of the cheese. To serve 2:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound (200 g) sheets fresh store-bought lasagna
- 6 ounces (150 g) robiola, which is a fresh, creamy cheese. I might substitute a mixture of ricotta and cream cheese for
- Half a pear -- Williams will be fine -- peeled, cored and diced
- 2 fresh sage leaves
- 1 3/4 ounces (50 g) speck (in its absence use lean prosciutto), cut into thin strips
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- 4 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano
- 2/3 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper (white if possible) to taste
- If you have one, a heart-shaped glass pasta/pie dish about 7 inches (17 cm) across.
Preparation:
Sauté the pear in the butter, with the speck and sage; when the speck has colored add the wine and cook a couple of minutes more, until it has evaporated. Turn off the heat.Cut the sheets of lasagna to the shape of your pan -- a heart will be nice, but small round or square will also do. Boil the sheets briefly -- at the most a minute -- in lightly salted water, remove them with a strainer, and let them cool on a clean cloth.
In the meantime, combine the robiola cheese with the milk and the grated Parmigiano, and season the mix to taste with salt and pepper; remember that the speck is salty.
Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C).
Lightly butter the pan, and put down a first layer of pasta. Cover it with some of the cheese mixture, some of the pear mixture, and repeat the sequence until all is used up. Bake the lasagna for 15 minutes and serve at once, with a crisp white wine. A Franciacorta Brut would be nice, and in keeping with the holiday.
Auguri!
