Lasagna with tomato, mozzarella and ricotta
starter soup brunch- 600 g fresh lasagne sheets
For the tomato sauce:
- 450 g pomodoro pelato di Napoli (Naples peeled plump tomatoes)
- 1 garlic clove
- 3-4 basil leaves
- 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
For the lasagne:
- 300 g mozzarella
- 150 g very fresh ricotta cheese
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small knob of butter
- 100 g freshly grated parmesan
- Salt and pepper to taste
First make the tomato sauce. Heat the extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Using the heel of your hand, crush the garlic clove, and add it to the olive oil, and sauté until golden. Crush the tomatoes with the heel of your hand. Once the garlic is brown, add the crushed tomatoes to the saucepan. Mix the tomatoes, and season them with salt, to taste. Simmer the sauce over a low heat for approximately 20 minutes so that it begins to thicken. Turn off the heat, and add the basil sprigs while the sauce is cooling, and remove them once the sauce has cooled. The tomato sauce should be a rich red colour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Fill a large saucepan with water, bring to the boil and lightly salt, add the fresh lasagne sheets and let them boil for just 1 minute. Drain and pat them dry on a clean tea-towel taking care that they are separate so they don’t stick together. Butter a rectangular dish and line the base with the prepared tomato sauce, add a layer of lasagne and a little tomato sauce on and sprinkle with the grated parmesan, the ricotta and diced mozzarella. Repeat the layers until all the pasta is used and finish with a layer of the lasagne sheets covered with mozzarella and tomato sauce. Sprinkle generously with parmesan and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Take the lasagne out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.