Don Angie-inspired Pinwheel Lasagna
This recipe is a copycat recipe of the famous lasagna at the upscale Italian American restaurant Don Angie in NYC. There is a crisp top layer on this pinwheel lasagna that honestly looks like a work of art. This is probably one of the most time-consuming lasagnas I have made, but it is well worth it. For this recipe, you are making a béchamel, bolognese and a tomato basil pasta sauce that will go into your complex dish. You are making your own pasta dough that you roll out into long sheets to assemble the distinctive pinwheels that make up this dish. After your dough is prepared, it is layered with your béchamel, mozzarella and Parmesan and bolognese. The pasta sheets are rolled up into a tight log, chilled and sliced. The slices are placed on a bed of basil tomato sauce and baked to perfection. The main difference in this version is that instead of robiola cheese to top off the lasagna, I have used a ricotta-Boursin (gournay) mixture. I found that I could get two lasagna logs with this recipe and have lasagna over two separate dinners.
Ingredients
Pasta
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 8 egg yolks
- 2 whole eggs
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Bechamel
- 1 pound 4 sticks unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 2 shallots sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 litres whole milk
- Salt
Bolognese
- 2 Spanish onions coarsely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- 5 ribs celery coarsely chopped
- 2 carrots peeled and coarsely chopped
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage casings removed
- 4 ounces pancetta ground or processed in food processor
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 large can 796 mL crushed tomatoes
- Salt
Tomato Sauce
- 1 large can 796 mL crushed tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- Bunch of basil leaves
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Assembly
- Cooked pasta sheets recipe above
- Béchamel recipe above
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 1/2 cups Parmesan grated
- Bolognese recipe above
- Tomato Sauce recipe above
- 2 cups ricotta
- 1 pack Boursin Cheese Gournay Cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parsley chopped
- Garnish
- Grated Parmesan
- Chopped Parsley
- Chili flakes
Instructions
Pasta
- Mix all ingredients (eggs, yolk and flour, olive oil, salt) in a food processor then knead until smooth. You can do the entire thing using a stand mixer. Start with 1 1/2 cups of flour and add remaining 1/2 cup if the dough is too wet. This will depend on how large your eggs are. Knead for at least 10 minutes.
- Roll pasta dough into ball, dust with a bit of flour, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 40 minutes.
- Cut dough in half and using a pasta roller, roll out two sheets of pasta dough.
- You want to keep passing it through the roller until it is smoother, start at a 6 setting and eventually get it down to a 4 setting on your pasta machine. Your dough will rip at the beginning but keep passing it through until smooth.
- Cut each sheet in half to create 4 sheets.
- Dust your 4 pasta sheets with flour to prevent them from sticking.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and set up a bowl of ice water.
- Cook pasta sheets, submerging in the water for one minute then immediately placing into the ice bath.
- Set aside to cool.
Bechamel
- In a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat, add your butter and melt. Add shallots, bay leaves, thyme andpeppercorns. After 2 minutes add minced garlic.
- Cook, stirring constantly for about 4 minutes total until shallots are translucent and garlic is browning.
- Add your flour and stir cooking for about five minutes.
- Using a whisk, add your milk and whisk cooking for about 10 minutes.
- Season with salt and remove from heat. Strain through very fine mesh sieve. Cover and place in refrigerator to cool.
Bolognese
- Finely dice onions, garlic, celery and carrots and set aside. You may also use a food processor.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, brown your Italian sausage and ground beef in olive oil. About 5-7 minutes, until cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add your pancetta to the pot and cook over medium heat until crispy and add your diced vegetables. Sauté vegetables with pancetta for at least 5-10 minutes until nice and soft.
- Add tomato paste and stir cooking for at least 5 minutes.
- Deglaze using your wine and cook until fully evaporated. Add your cooked sausage and beef back into pot with veggies and pancetta and add milk and crushed tomatoes.
- Stir well, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours stirring occasionally.
- Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool. Cover and place in fridge until ready to use
Tomato Sauce
- In a heavy bottomed sauce pan on medium heat add olive oil. Reduce heat and add minced garlic and cook until soft.
- Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Tear basil leaves and add to sauce, stir in and cook for about 1 minute or 2 minutes longer, remove form heat and season with salt to taste. Cover and place in refrigerator to cool.
- Assembly
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- On a clean counter top, lay out a long layer of parchment paper. Lay out one of your pasta sheetson top.
- Note: Ideally all your sheets are the same length so they overlap nicely.
- Spread a thin layer of béchamel evenly across the pasta sheet
- Sprinkle Parmesan and mozzarella over the béchamel. Place another sheet of pasta on top. Spread a layer of bolognese evenly across the second pasta sheet. Add a sufficient amount but not too too much or else it will be hard to roll.
- Roll the layered pasta into a log using parchment paper to help you. Wrap in parchment paper and place in fridge and let cool.
- Repeat with other 2 pasta sheets to make another log.
- When lasagna logs are cool, prep dish.
- Ladle the tomato sauce into a casserole to cover the entire bottom of the dish, slice your logs using a sharp knife. I get about 6 pinwheels per log. You can cut them thicker and get fewer pinwheels per log.
- Lay lasagna pinwheels into the casserole dish, with the cut sides facing up, until the dish is full.
- In a small bowl add your ricotta and Boursin cheese, season with salt and pepper to taste and add dollops between pinwheels.
- Cook in oven for at least 15 minutes or until pasta edges are golden brown. I like mine after about 25 minutes.
- Top with chopped parsley and serve.
- You can keep your second log refrigerated for up to 3 days until you are ready to slice and bake. Make sure to reserve your shredded cheese, ricotta-Boursin mixture and tomato sauce for assembly of your second lasagna.
