While plucking up the courage to befriend my new shiny pasta machine, I have created a few pasta dishes of late.
This is by far the best, and utterly delicious. It is quite simple with only a few ingredients marrying together – but it really makes the dish come together and it is so so good.
I am actually so pleased with this recipe that I have considered eating it for breakfast, if we only had a proper stove at work…
When using only a few ingredients, they have to be of the best quality. Good dried lasagne sheets, fresh tasty mushrooms, fresh thyme and good quality ricotta. And try and get hold of a good truffle oil. It should be pungent, if it tastes more of oil than truffles, you might as well not bother with it.
Open lasagne with thyme fried mushrooms and truffle ricotta, serves 2
4 lasagne sheets
250 g fresh chestnut mushrooms or portabellini
1 handful dried mushrooms, like porcini or girolles, or a mixture
plenty of butter and mild olive oil for frying
1 garlic clove
3 sprigs of thyme (and more to decorate)
125 g ricotta
a few drops of truffle oil
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan
salt and pepper
Bring water to the boil in a pan large enough for the lasagne sheets. Add salt and a little oil to the water (for the lasagne sheets not to stick to each other).
Soak the dried mushrooms in warm water for a few minutes. Brush and slice the fresh mushrooms and fry in two batches in plenty of butter and oil on medium-high heat. Squeeze the water out of the dried mushrooms and fry them as well. When all the mushrooms are fried, transfer them back to the frying pan and add garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Keep warm.
Cook the lasagne sheets until soft, about 8-10 minutes. While it is cooking, mix the ricotta with the grated parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper and truffle oil. You want a fairly strong truffle flavour; how much depends on the concentration of the oil.
När pastaplattorna är klara, ta upp dem med en tång ur vattnet. Lägg två plattor lite omlott på varje tallrik, långsida mot långsida. I den ena änden, klicka ut ricotta och toppa med svamp. Ta den tomma delen av pastaplattorna och vänd över som ett lock. Bred ricotta på toppen och toppa med svamp, riven parmesan och repad timjan.
