Neapolitan lasagne
"Neapolitan lasagne is a dish that I grew up eating on Christmas Day. This is my favourite type of lasagne. Unlike lasagne bolognese, made with meat sauce and bechamel, the Neapolitan version is made with sausage, meatballs, ricotta, mozzarella and hard-boiled eggs." – Federica Andrisani
Recipe note: You’ll need a 23cm x 33cm x 7cm-deep baking dish.
Ingredients (15)
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil, plus extra, to drizzle
- 12 dried lasagne sheets (see notes)
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
- 2 (200g each) fresh buffalo mozzarella (see notes) or fior di latte, drained, cut into 1cm pieces
- 200g finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano or parmesan
- 200g fresh ricotta, drained (buffalo, if possible
- Dressed rocket leaves, to serve
Sauce
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 2 (100g each) pork sausages, cut into small pieces
- 3 (400ml each) bottles tomato passata
Meatballs
- 500g pork mince
- 500g beef mince
- 100g finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano or parmesan
- 100g stale bread, coarsely torn, soaked with 2/3 cup (160ml) milk
- 1 egg
Don't forget you can add these ingredients to your Woolworths shopping list.
CloseMethod
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1.To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add sausage pieces and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes, until beginning to brown. Add passata and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until sauce has thickened slightly. Season to taste.
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2.Meanwhile, line a tray with baking paper.
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3.Place meatball ingredients in a large bowl, season to taste and mix to combine. Roll 1 tsp measures of mixture into balls and place on prepared tray. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set. Heat 2 tbs oil in a large frypan over high heat and cook meatballs, shaking pan and turning meatballs occasionally, for 5-6 minutes, until browned all over and just cooked through.
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4.Meanwhile, line a large baking tray with baking paper. Blanch lasagne sheets in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 30 seconds each to soften slightly. Refresh in iced water and drizzle with oil, then place on prepared tray until ready to assemble. Repeat with remaining sheets.
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5.Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan-forced.
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6.To assemble, grease base and sides of a 23cm x 33cm x 7cm-deep baking dish. Spoon a little sauce into base of dish and spread to coat base. Cover with 4 lasagne sheets, overlapping very slightly to fit in a single layer. Spread with one-third of the remaining sauce, then follow with one-third of the sliced egg, meatballs and cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients twice more, finishing with the cheeses scattered over the top.
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7.Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, then remove foil and cook for a further 20 minutes, or until bubbling and golden.
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8.Stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before cutting to serve. Serve with dressed rocket leaves.
Recipe Notes
To make the process slightly faster, use fresh pasta sheets rather than dried. This will eliminate the blanching step, and you can add them straight into the baking dish. Buffalo mozzarella and ricotta have a higher fat content than the cow’s milk versions, which makes them a lot more creamy, and perfect for this recipe. Substitute cow’s milk mozzarella or bocconcini, and cow’s milk ricotta.
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