Armani Lasagnetta

I loved my evening spent at Armani/Risorante Fifth Avenue when I reviewed it and am even more pleased to be able to make this recipe at home!

LASAGNETTA CROCCANTE

Con Funghetti di Stagione e Speck dell’Alto Adige DOP

Eggplant, Tomato and Scamorza Cheese-Layered Lasagna over Parmesan Fondue

Yields 4 Portions

Ingredients:

Dough:

½ lb double-zero, pizza, or all-purpose flour

8oz egg yolks

Filling:

4 medium-size Italian eggplants

4 medium-size beefsteak tomatoes

1 cup reduced tomato sauce

12 oz smoked Scamorza or Provola cheese, roughly grated (divide into 16 portions)

1 cup bechamel sauce

2 cup Parmigiano cheese, grated (divide into 4 portions).

6 basil leaves, julienned

¼ cup dried oregano

¼ cup dried thyme

½ cup garlic-infused olive oil

Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream

4 Tbsp Parmigiano cheese, grated

Preparation:

Dough:

1)                  Mix together flour and egg yolks and knead into a dough. Leave to rest in the refrigerator.

Filling:

2)                  Peel and slice eggplant into ¼-inch rounds

3)                  Peel, slice, and remove seeds from tomato, slice into ¼-inch rounds

4)                  Place eggplant and tomato on separate parchment papered baking sheets, brush with garlic     oil and season with salt and pepper, thyme leaves.

5)                  Bake separately: bake eggplant at 350*F until golden brown (approximately 20 minutes), and eggplant at 210*F until slightly dried (approximately 2 hours)

6)                  Roll out very thin sheets (1/16-inch thick) of dough, use a mold to cut sixteen 4-inch rounds of dough. (4 per lasagnetta x 4 portions = 16).

7)                  Quickly blanch rounds of dough in salted boiling water (approximately 10 seconds), then cool in iced water to stop the cooking process. Place them on a paper towel to dry.

8)                  Once dry. Place four rounds on a oiled baking pan. Begin layering tomato, eggplant, a spoonful of tomato sauce, grated scamorza cheese, julienned basil, a pinch of dried oregano, and a teaspoon of beschamel sauce. Repeat three times, (to make a total of four layers on each lasagnetta), topping the final round of dough with grated parmigiano cheese. 

9)                  Bake in oven at 350*F for approximately 15 minutes.

Sauce/Plating:

10)              Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: boil heavy cream until reduced by half, then add the remaining parmigiano cheese, stirring continuously until dissolved.

11)              Divide and spoon the sauce evenly on the center of 4 pre-heated flat plates.

12)              Remove lasagnetta from the oven, using a spatula, move each lasagnetta to the center of the plate, in the center of the sauce.

13)             Serve immediately while hot.