The superstar host shares her recipe for this rich showstopper of a dish.
Jessica Nguyen recently pulled off an incredible dinner party at her house, hosting a very special Dan’s Night In event. There, she served up a three-course meal paired with some winners from the Best in Glass Wine Awards, but the standout dish of the night was without doubt her lamb ragu lasagne rotolo. So, naturally, we all want to recreate it at home.
Just be aware that Jessica says this is one of her most time-consuming dishes, which she made for the event over the course of three days. “I only cook this dish on very special occasions for people I love or when I really want to push the boat out at a dinner party,” Jessica says.
It needs one day to cook the lamb ragu, which takes approximately four hours and then gets refrigerated overnight to allow the flavours to deepen. There’s another day to cook the lasagne sheets, make the bechamel, assemble the rotolo and refrigerate or freeze them overnight so they set. Then, on the final day, the rolls are cut, assembled, baked and served.
But don’t let that put you off – the process isn’t difficult, it just takes time. And this can work in your favour ahead of a big night of hosting because you’ll be prepped and organised well in advance.
Ingredients: lamb ragu
3 tbsp olive oil
1.5kg lamb with bones – use lamb chops, lamb shoulder or ask your butcher for lamb offcuts ½ cup plain flour 2 red onions, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 stick celery, finally chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped 3 tbsp tomato paste ½ bottle red wine 2 cans tomatoes or passata Herbs of your choice – thyme, rosemary and oregano are ideal Rind of Parmigiano Reggiano or parmesan cheese 4 bay leaves 2 tbsp fish sauce and/or salt 1-2 cups of vegetable stock or water Salt and pepper, to taste
Ingredients: bechamel
110g unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 shallot, finely chopped Generous pinch of salt Your choice of pinch of grated nutmeg, bay leaves or pepper ½ cup plain flour 2 cups milk
Ingredients: sugo
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and flattened with a knife 1 bottle passata 1-2 stalks basil
Ingredients: rotolo
8-10 (1kg) store-bought fresh lasagne sheets
1 cup bechamel 500g mozzarella, shredded 1 cup parmesan, finely grated 4 cups lamb ragu 2 cups tomato sugo ½ cup high melting cheese to top rotolo – mozzarella cubes are ideal Fresh basil leaves, to garnish
Method: lamb ragu
You’ll need to make this at least a day before assembling and cooking the rotolo to give it time to thicken and cool. You could even make this well ahead and freeze portions Preheat your oven to 170 degrees celsius Place lamb on a tray and dust all sides with flour until fully coated Heat a large pot with some of the oil and, once hot, sear all sides of the lamb until golden brown, cooking only a couple of pieces at a time. This avoids crowding the meat, which will steam it. Once browned, place onto a new tray lined with paper towel In the same pot, heat some more oil and, once hot, add onion, garlic, celery and carrot, and cook on medium for 5 minutes or until softened and sweated out Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes until mixed through and deep orange in colour Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes or until the alcohol has evaporated Add the canned tomatoes, stir and nestle the browned lamb in the sauce. Add your herbs, parmesan rind, bay leaves and fish sauce or salt. If the lamb is not fully submerged, add vegetable stock or water to cover Cover with a lid and place in your oven on 170 degrees, or on the lowest hob on your stove. Cook for approximately 3 hours or until the meat easily comes off the bones. After 2 hours, check the ragu every 30 minutes as cooking times fluctuate between ovens. If cooking the ragu on your stove, stir every 40 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom Once cooked, it should be deep brown in colour. Remove from the oven or stove and allow to cool slightly for 10 minutes Remove lamb from the sauce and place onto a tray. Discard any items you no longer want in your sauce such as bay leaves, herb stalks and parmesan rind Remove bones from the meat and shred it with two forks. Place shredded meat back into the sauce and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper if needed, and set aside to cool
Method: bechamel
You can make this the day before and keep it in the fridge or make it on the day, but it will need 1 hour to cool Place butter into a pot and heat until fully melted Add garlic, shallot, salt and seasonings, and cook on medium for 1 minute until fragrant and translucent Add flour and stir well to make a paste, cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown Pour in the milk and stir well to combine. As the mixture heats and thickens, whisk it to remove any clumps and ensure it’s smooth. If it gets too thick, add more milk, but it should be as thick as Clag glue Once it reaches the desired consistency, set aside to cool
Method: sugo
You can make this the day before and keep it in the fridge, or make it on the day about 30 minutes before assembling the rotolo. If you’re in a rush, simply use a quality passata and skip the next steps Heat a pot with olive oil and add the garlic, cooking for 1 minute until fragrant Pour in the passata, add basil stalks and season with salt if needed Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes Take off the heat and allow to cool
Method: rotolo
Fill a large pot with water and a generous amount of salt, and bring to the boil Meanwhile, set up an ice bath in a large bowl or lipped tray. Line a sheet pan with baking paper Working with one pasta sheet at a time, place it in boiling water for 15 seconds, immediately remove and place it in the ice bath for 15 seconds. Transfer it to the lined sheet pan and pat dry with a paper towel. Cover with another layer of baking paper and repeat with the remaining sheets. You should end up with a stack of pasta sheets, each patted dry and separated by baking paper On a clean countertop or chopping board, lay out one sheet with the short side facing you (like a portrait image) and keep the baking paper it was attached to still underneath Spread ¼ cup of the bechamel in a thin even layer across the sheet Then sprinkle 1 cup of the mozzarella and ¼ cup of parmesan over the bechamel Place another sheet of pasta on top, removing the baking paper. Evenly spread 1 cup of ragu across the second pasta sheet, leaving a 5cm border uncovered at the top shorter edge furthest from you Spoon 2 teaspoons of bechamel onto the uncovered edge – this will be the “glue” to seal the roll closed Starting at the bottom, closest to you, roll up the layered pasta into a thick log, pulling it away from the baking paper. Press down the seam to seal it, and place it back onto the baking paper and wrap so it is fully covered in baking paper. This will protect it from drying out and sticking to others in the fridge Transfer to a sheet pan seam-side down and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 1 hour, or up to 2, to firm it and make it easier to slice Repeat the process with remaining lasagne sheets to make a total of 4 rolls, transferring each one to the tray in the fridge as you finish. The rolls can be tightly wrapped in plastic at this point and refrigerated for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months and thawed in the fridge before cooking
Method: final assembly and bake
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius Pour the sugo into a baking dish so it’s about 3cm deep Remove rolls from the fridge, remove baking paper, and slice each roll into four equal pieces crossways by slicing them in half and half again (approx 5-6cm thick) Arrange lasagne pieces cut side up into baking dish – the sugo should be halfway up the lasagne, and pieces should be almost touching, but with some space to expand Bake for 30 minutes Pull dish out and add mozzarella between each lasagne roll on top of the sugo, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes to melt and get extra golden Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve
image credits: Benjamin Dowd, Dazey Studios
