Why It Works
- A slow-simmered ragù using three types of meat and a dash of fish sauce delivers maximum umami.
- The creamy besciamella (béchamel) works as both the glue to hold your rolls together and a creamy sauce.
- Chilling the lasagna logs firms them up, allowing for clean, beautifully shaped rosettes.
I spend an unhealthy amount of time endlessly scrolling foodtok, and I unapologetically eat with my eyes first. Until they invent scratch-and-sniff magazines, smell-o-vision, or brain-hacking virtual reality, food media is a visual game for me. There’s a lot of gross and unattractive stuff out there and my friends get a little thrill sending me the most unappetizing things they can find. So something that is aesthetically pleasing and delicious is more than welcome.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
One such creation is the lasagna for two at Don Angie in New York City’s West Village, which has lived in my mind rent-free ever since I first tried it a few years ago (IYKYK). The dish plays with the form of lasagna, taking the traditional layered sheets and turning them on their side—rolled up with sauce like a jelly roll and then sliced into beautiful rosettes. It’s then baked and served with dollops of fresh robiolina cheese. The result is both delicious and Instagram-worthy. I’ve seen ready-made versions of these pasta rosettes in shops and grocery stores in Italy. Could I recreate this dish at home? I was highly motivated by the memory of that truly exceptional dish, and I was determined to find out.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Firstly, know that while the Don Angie dish is a more recent phenomenon, lasagna rosettes themselves are not a new concept. Variations of lasagna rolls have been circulating the internet for years, the inspiration likely from the Italian dish called rosette al forno (aka rosette Modenese). In Modena, the rosettes are rolled together with besciamella (the Italian spelling of béchamel), prosciutto cotto, fontina, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Since this recipe was an attempt to recreate the Don Angie version, I leaned into hearty flavors of lasagna bolognese featuring meaty sauce folded with creamy besciamella. The recipe—I’ll admit—is a process, and probably best done over two days, but it’s both doable and worthwhile, especially for special occasions. That said, don’t feel compelled to make every component yourself. While I love the process of making fresh pasta, for this project, store-bought is fine. Especially if that store is an Italian specialty shop selling freshly rolled lasagne sheets. The following tips are key to success for a showstopper pasta dish that will warm bellies and hearts alike.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
The Key Components for Delicious Bolognese-Style Rosette al Forno
Spend the time making a great bolognese. I’ll be honest, the first time I made this recipe I was feeling extraordinarily ambitious. I made everything myself. I made the sauce myself. I made the pasta myself. I even whipped out my grinder attachment for my stand mixer and ground the meat myself. If you do grind your own meat, you can also grind your vegetables at the same time but other than that, there’s virtually no upside to doing this. Unlike some dishes that require a special grind, this recipe works just as well if you leave the meat grinding to the butcher. I will, however, suggest that you get a variety of meats for your bolognese.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Many meat sauce and meatball recipes call for a combination of beef, pork, and veal. Unless you’re making a large amount of sauce, it can be annoying to get such tiny quantities of ground pork and veal, so feel free to use only beef and pork, or just beef. Many grocers and butchers now also offer a “meatball mix” which is a mixture of all three meats in the appropriate ratios, so feel free to use that if it’s available.
Don’t underestimate the besciamella. The besciamella literally holds everything together—it’s an important component at almost every stage of this recipe. It’s included as a component on the bolognese to keep the sauce from drying out in the oven. The besciamella is used in between the two layers of the rosettes, and the logs are rolled together and glued shut using…more besciamella. You’ll also want to keep some for serving. I use a ratio of a tablespoon and a half each of flour and butter per cup of milk, which is what is used in Daniel’s classic béchamel recipe. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
For the best rosette al forno, use fresh pasta (buy it if you need to). Dry sheets of lasagna may seem like an appealing shortcut in this recipe, but they have a different texture than fresh even when cooked, and it’s unlikely that you’ll find sheets long enough to roll. The right pasta really makes a difference here. This recipe is designed for you to be able to use homemade pasta if you’re using a standard-size-width pasta roller, which is about six inches, as long as you consistently cut the sheets at the same length. However, if you’re lucky enough to live near a grocer that sells fresh pasta for lasagne, just buy it. You may have to order it in advance, but it’s worth it.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Roll then chill. The first step to assembling these rosettes is to make what I can only describe as a double-layered roll of pasta, like a jelly roll if you were using two layers of cake and two layers of frosting. The first sheet of lasagna is layered with besciamella and your cheeses, the second sheet of pasta is set on top, and then you spread the bolognese evenly on top of that; the whole thing is rolled up tightly and glued together with more besciamella. It’s essential that you chill your pasta logs at this point, or else the sauces that you worked so hard on will ooze out when you attempt to slice the rolls into shorter lengths.
Measure twice, cut once. When it comes to slicing, I suggest a very sharp knife or a serrated one and that you use a ruler to ensure that all your rosettes are the same length. Otherwise, when you put them into your baking dish, you will immediately notice the varying heights. This is not just aesthetically unappealing, the taller rosettes will brown more quickly and maybe even get a little burnt. Don’t be afraid to leave a few scraps of pasta on the cutting room floor to achieve your desired result.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
