… AND WHEN LASAGNA GOES SIDEWAYS Homemade pasta and a different angle on Florentine lasagna
By Brenda Johnson
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
Growing up, it was a tradition to make pasta with my parents on New Year's Day. I have memories of noodles hanging and resting on every surface in our kitchen and dining room. When I started my own family, this tradition was put by the wayside since my son was born with a gluten allergy. I’ve cooked very little pasta in my own kitchen over the last 20 years but kids grow and move away, which has allowed me to revisit making pasta from scratch. My family recipe is simply whatever flour you have in the house, eggs and salt … with a little water as needed.
3 cups flour
3 large eggs + 2 egg yolks
1 tsp table salt (less if using sea salt)
Water as needed
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
Make a well in the flour on your working surface, add the eggs and salt to the well. Scramble eggs well before gradually mixing in the flour. Use a scraper to get the bits off your hands and your work surface if needed. Knead until the gluten is activated and the dough is springy. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.
During the pandemic I read a lot of magazines and remember reading an article about preparing/serving lasagna vertically. I have no idea which foodie publication … but I’m a food photographer and the images accompanying the article are branded in my mind. The photo of the plated dish was lovely. The following is a recipe based on what I remember reading/seeing in my mind … it’s hard to screw up lasagne, right?
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
We started with making the pasta sheets. Since this “sideways” lasagna is formed in a 9" x 5" loaf pan, we needed 2 noodle sheets, approximately 5" x 30". My partner is an engineer … he did the math.
Cook the noodles in well-salted water (one noodle at a time … 2 minutes per noodle) and spread each out on a baking sheet, generously coated with olive oil. I oiled the noodles, too, since we needed to fold them over on themselves a couple times. (see photos)
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
To make our filling we used ricotta cheese, prosciutto, fresh rosemary, parmesan cheese, a little salt, some ground red pepper flakes for a little heat, and cream for thinning. We also added fresh spinach between the rows of filling. You could likely use any filling, but the filling needs to be set/firm in order to be sliced.
6 oz parmesan (when crumbled = about 1-½ cup)
2 cups of organic, whole milk, ricotta cheese
1/4 lb of thinly sliced prosciutto
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary (I would add more…)
Fresh baby spinach (as much as you like … more is better!)
Cream or milk (for thinning the filling)
Salt to taste (optional since the prosciutto is very salty)
Ground red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
Finely chop the prosciutto and rosemary. We used a food processor to process the parmesan chunks then added the remaining ingredients to thoroughly mix the filling. It should be thin enough to pipe through a bag but not watery. You can either spread the filling on to the pasta or use a large piping bag (with a 1" or more opening). You will use ¼ of the filling per layer so plan accordingly.
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
Oil your loaf pan with olive oil and lay the pasta sheets into the pan on the 9-inch side. Overhang 5" on one side and the rest of the pasta sheet on the other of the loaf pan. The 2 pasta noodles will overlap by an inch in the middle of the pan.
Pipe two rows of the filling onto the pasta (or spread ¼ of the mixture onto the pasta). Cover the filling with the long, overhanging pasta sheets. Press down between the rows of filling.
Add a layer of fresh spinach, then pipe two more rows of filling in the pressed-in area between the first two rows. Cover the filling with the long, overhanging pasta. Repeat two more times (pipe filling into the pressed in areas) then cover the last/4th row with the remaining pasta sheets. Cut off any remaining noodle and tuck the edge into the 9" side of the pan.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill for more than 6 hours.
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
After the lasagna is firm, preheat the oven to 450º and line a baking sheet with parchment and set aside. Gently run a thin plastic utensil or spatula along the edges of the pan to loosen the lasagna. Invert the loaf pan onto a cutting board and gently cut the lasagna crosswise into 5 or 6 slices.
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
Transfer the slices to the baking sheet, leaving space between the slices. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with grated parmesan and/or mozzarella cheese. Bake until the sides are a bit puffy and the cheese is golden brown, about 10 minutes.
Brenda Johnson / Heavy Table
We placed our lasagna slices onto a bed of traditional meat sauce.