Swiss Chard Lasagna with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce Recipe

How to make it

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• FOR LASAGNA SHEETS:
• Follow method for making Fresh Pasta and forming pasta sheets. Cut pasta into 5x15-inch sheets and let dry just slightly, about 10 minutes. Fill large bowl with cold water. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using pasta insert, transfer pasta from boiling water to cold water. Drain. Shake excess water from pasta and lay pasta atop clean dry kitchen towels.
• FOR FILLING:
• Place Swiss chard in large pot over medium heat. Cover and cook until chard wilts but is crisp-tender, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; drain any excess liquid. Transfer chard to large bowl. Season lightly with salt. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, combine garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon water in small saucepan and bring to boil. Cook over medium heat until garlic is tender and water has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix ricotta cheese and garlic mixture into cooked chard in large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in eggs.
• TO ASSEMBLE LASAGNA:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line bottom and sides of 15x10-inch baking dish with pasta sheets, overlapping sheets slightly. Spread 1/3 cup ricotta mixture over pasta sheets. Spoon generous 1/2 cup Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce evenly over ricotta mixture. Sprinkle with generous 1/4 cup Parmigiano. Repeat layering 3 times. Cover with pasta sheets. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over, and sprinkle with remaining Parmigiano. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil atop lasagna.
• Bake lasagna uncovered until top is deep golden and sauce bubbles, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven; cool slightly before serving.
• Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce:
• This light sauce is the perfect accompaniment to spaghetti, linguini, ravioli and lasagna, such as Swiss Chard Lasagna.
• 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, halved crosswise
• sea salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• Directions:
• Lightly sprinkle cut sides of tomatoes with salt. Place tomatoes cut sides down in rack set in a jelly roll pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Coarsely chop tomatoes (do not remove salt).
• Heat oil in heavy large saucepan. Over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and 2 tablespoons water and cook until onion is just translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until tomatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add basil and continue cooking until tomatoes are very tender, about 20 minutes longer. Remove from heat.
• TIP: Pour sauce into storage container; refrigerate. The sauce can be refrigerated up to 1 week and frozen up to one month.
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• Fresh Pasta
• Fresh pasta can be flavored with garlic or herbs. For garlic pasta, add one minced large garlic clove to the eggs and salt before incorporating with the flour. For thyme pasta, mix two heaping teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves into the flour before you make the well. This recipe for fresh pasta will make enough for 4 to 6 servings.
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• Generous pinch of sea salt
• MAKING DOUGH: Sift flour onto large flat work surface. Form well in center of flour. Place eggs and salt in well; whisk lightly with fork to blend. Using fork, gradually mix flour from inside walls of well into egg mixture to form coarse dough. Knead until dough is satiny and surface is almost smooth, about 4 minutes. Form dough into ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rest at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.
• KNEADING DOUGH: Set rollers for pasta machine, on widest setting. Using dough cutter, cut dough into eight equal pieces. Form each piece into ball; flatten into disks. Run one dough disk through rollers, dusting lightly with flour if dough sticks (keep remaining dough disks covered). Working on lightly floured surface, fold dough into thirds as for business letter. Pass dough, edges first, through rollers again. Repeat process six times, keeping rollers at widest setting and lightly dusting rollers with flour if dough sticks.
• FORMING PASTA SHEETS: Adjust width of rollers to next smaller setting, and pass dough through rollers. Continue adjusting roller width to smaller settings, running dough through each setting without folding, and dusting rollers very lightly with flour if necessary until long dough sheet forms, about 24 to 30 inches long.
• Hang strips over pasta drying rack, just until pasta is slightly dry, about 10 minutes (pasta should not be brittle or wet). Repeat kneading remaining dough disks and forming them into pasta sheets.