One restaurant that’s been on my bucket list for years is Don Angie in the West Village. When I lived in the city, it always felt like the options were either popping in and waiting … or snagging a 9 p.m. reservation on a Monday. So recently I picked up their cookbook, and I knew exactly where to start: the cover recipe, Pinwheel Lasagna.
This is absolutely a project recipe. There are four main components (Italian sausage Bolognese, egg yolk pasta sheets, béchamel, and a quick San Marzano tomato sauce) but if you spread the prep over a few days, the final assembly and bake feels very doable.
And because I’m not a complete masochist, I leaned on frozen pasta sheets (thank you, Terra Cotta Pasta). Each sheet gets slathered with béchamel infused with shallot, garlic, thyme, and bay, then showered with mozzarella and Parmesan. On top goes another sheet up pasta and a rich Bolognese packed with Italian sausage, pancetta, and veal before everything is rolled up and chilled.
When it’s time to bake, you spoon the San Marzano tomato sauce into the bottom of the dish, slice the pinwheels, nestle them in, and let the oven do the rest. The finished lasagna is topped with dollops of robiolina (I couldn’t find it, so whipped cream cheese stepped in), a drizzle of olive oil, and fresh parsley.
It was phenomenal but I may still keep trying for a reservation instead of making this one again.
Book: Italian American, page 175
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That – Skill Level: Intermediate
How Easy Is That – Time Involved: 4 hours
Store-Bought Is Fine: Fresh pasta sheets
Recipe on CherryBombe.com
