mitzireddy

When I came across this recipe in an Ideas magazine I was fascinated with the modern twist of serving an open lasagne– so different from the traditional method of layering the lasagne sheets. The lasagne sheets are cooked, then dipped into a cheese sauce (absolutely delicious) and filled with tasty goodies and folded over. This dish falls into my category of chic and easy.

OPEN LASAGNE WITH OLIVES, ROCKET AND SALAMI

Serves 4

Prep Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

CHEESE SAUCE

30ml butter

35ml flour

600ml milk

125g Gorgonzola cheese

50g Philadelphia cream cheese

LASAGNE

8 sheets lasagne

15ml olive oil

16 slices coarse Italian salami, torn into halves

24 calamata olives, pitted and halved

1 packet fresh rocket

shaved Parmesan, to serve

Cheese sauce.

Heat the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in the milk gradually, adding a little at a time and keep stirring until thickened.

Add the cheeses and stir until well blended. Season to taste and remove from the heat.

Lasagne

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Boil the lasagne sheets three to four at a time until they are tender (but not too soft). Make sure that they do not stick together while they cook.

Remove from the saucepan with a slotted spoon. Lay them between sheets of greaseproof paper to prevent them from sticking together.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the salami and fry until crisp. Drain on kitchen paper. (When I first made this dish I did not enjoy the fried crisp salami. As a result I skip this process and do not fry the salami.

Dip the lasagne sheets into the cheese sauce, making sure they are well coated so that they don’t stick together.

To serve, layer sheets of lasagna on to the plates, folding them over with olives, salami, rocket leaves and shaved parmesan. Serve immediately.