Today’s pasta rolls are a enjoyable and simple twist on lasagne or cannelloni. As a substitute of the standard white sauce, every pasta tube is crammed with cream cheese, mozzarella and a savoury combination made with mushrooms and shredded leftover ham, both off an entire boiled ham or ready-sliced.
Ham lasagne rolls
This recipe is a straightforward win and nice enjoyable to make. Youngsters find it irresistible, too, and it could actually simply be made vegetarian by changing the meat with wilted greens comparable to spinach, kale or/and beetroot leaves.
Even a small quantity of ham will add flavour and vitamin to this dish. I hardly ever purchase sliced ham, as a result of it’s so laborious to search out any made with free-range pork. Sometimes, nonetheless, I’ll boil a gammon and slice it into ham. Meat is at all times greatest cooked on the bone, however that may be laborious to chop round, and it’s these scraps that may be reduce off and shredded into this dish (sliced works simply as effectively, too, after all).
You need to use recent lasagne sheets for this, however they are often costly, so I used dried ones that I blanched in loads of salted boiling water. To keep away from them sticking collectively, drop in every sheet individually and wait 10 seconds earlier than placing within the subsequent one, then stir once in a while for about 5 minutes, till the sheets are malleable however nonetheless undercooked. This can assist maintain a little bit of chunk and chew within the rolls.
This recipe is impressed by New Zealand’s nationwide treasure, Jo Seagar, who has had a prolific profession on TV and as a meals author. You will discover lots of her recipes on Love Meals Hate Waste, a world marketing campaign for local weather motion that gives information and experience to assist folks save meals from the bin, and which I extremely advocate for all types of waste-saving recipes, ideas and info.
Serves 4
Olive oil
200g mushrooms, sliced – the variability is as much as you, although a great combination is at all times welcome
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
150-200g leftover ham, shredded
Salt and black pepper
1 tsp chilli flakes, or to style (non-obligatory)
1 tbsp vinegar – cider, wine or balsamic
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 pinch finely grated lemon zest, to style (non-obligatory)
12 lasagne sheets, recent or dried and blanched (see recipe introduction)
200g cream cheese
150g mozzarella
60g parmesan
12 black olives, pitted (non-obligatory)
Put a glug of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium-high warmth, add the sliced mushrooms and fry, stirring, for about seven minutes, till they brown. Add two of the chopped garlic cloves and the shredded ham, stir for a minute, then season to style and switch to a bowl to chill.
To make the tomato sauce, put the identical pan again on a medium warmth, add a few tablespoons of olive oil, the final chopped clove of garlic and an non-obligatory teaspoon of chilli flakes. Earlier than the garlic browns, add the vinegar and chopped tomatoes, and convey to a simmer to thicken. Season to style and add an non-obligatory grating of lemon zest.
Lay out all of the lasagne sheets on a piece floor, then unfold the cream cheese all alongside the size of every sheet. Evenly scatter over the grated mozzarella, then spoon the ham combination on high. Roll every sheet right into a cigar and organize aspect by aspect in an enamel baking dish. Pour the tomato sauce excessive, scatter over the grated parmesan and dot the pitted olives round and about. Bake in a 240C (220C fan)/fuel 9 oven for 20 minutes, till browned and effervescent, then take away and go away to relaxation for 10 minutes earlier than serving.
