Author Notes
I have eaten a similar dish made with home-made pasta and stuffed with ricotta and spinach. I don't know how to make home-made pasta so I used fresh pasta and cooked them and layered them one next to the other to make a big sheet. Then I filled with ricotta, Emmental, Parmesan, shredded raw zucchini and cooked ham. I made a rectangle of lasagna sheets, spread the filling over them, roll them like a log and bake it. It's quite easy to make and you can make all the ingredients 1 or 2 days ahead and finish the recipe at the last moment. If you prefer you can ommit the ham to have a vegetarian version. —Babette's Feast
Ingredients
- Lasagna
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16
sheets of no cook lasagna sheets
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Brown Sage Butter
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1/2 cup
butter
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10
fresh sage leaves
- Filling
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2
medium zucchini washed and grated coarsely
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2
slices of ham cut 1/4 inch thick and diced small
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6 ounces
ricotta
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2.5 ounces
Emmenthal Cheese grated coarsely
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1/2 cup
Parmesan cheese grated
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8
basil leaves chopped finely
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7 ounces
béchamel sauce (please see my recipe posted Sauce Béchamel)
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2
eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
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3 tablespoons
butter
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salt
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freshly ground 4 peppercorns mixture - green, white, black and pink
Directions
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Blanch the lasagna sheets 2 at a time in boiling salted water. Transfer to a bowl with cold water to stop the cooking and then transfer to a cotton kitchen cloth to drain and dry.
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Brown Sage Butter
Melt the butter with the sage leaves and allow to become golden brown. Remove from heat and put pan on a cold surface to stop the cooking process.
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Filling:
Put the ricotta to drain in a colander for 30 minutes.
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Finely cut the basil leaves (use kitchen scissors because the knife normally damages the leaves which then get very dark).
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Wash and cut the ends of the zucchinis. Shred them coarsely and put them in the middle of a kitchen cotton cloth. Bring the ends of the cloth together and squeeze really tight – a lot of water will come out and your zucchini will be really dry. Transfer squeezed dry zucchini to a colander.
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In a large pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of butter. When butter starts sizzling add the cut up ham and sauté until it starts to get golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and dry on paper towel.
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Put the ricotta in a bowl and whisk it with a fork. Add the béchamel sauce and mix very well. Add the Emmenthal and half the Parmesan. Stir very well to mix all the ingredients and add salt and pepper to your liking. Add the sautéed ham, the basil and the grated raw zucchini and mix well. Check seasoning.
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Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line an oven proof dish with parchment paper.
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On your work surface put a large piece of parchment paper. With the cooked lasagna rectangles, make a 12 inch by 16 inch rectangle, allowing each lasagna to overlap each other so there are no wholes in the lasagna base.
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Spread all the cheese, zucchini and ham mixture on top. Starting with one of the 12 inch side of the rectangle, use the parchment paper to help you roll tightly the lasagna and filling into a logg form. Tighten the roll well and check that the thickness is equal all over.
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Put the roll in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, covered with aluminium foil.
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Change the oven to grill.
Remove the aluminium foil, sprinkle the remaining Parmesan and the remaining butter in little pieces and grill for 5 minutes.
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Cut the roll in slices and serve hot drizzled with Brown Sage Butter.
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