Baked Pasta Roses (pasta rosettes)

How to make homemade lasagne pasta sheets

1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Beat the eggs and add to the flour with a pinch of salt.
2. Mix the eggs and flour together using a fork until the eggs are well incorporated in the flour.
3. Continue mixing the flour and eggs together using your hands until you have the start of a dough that doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead using the heel of your hands for about 7-10 minutes until you have a relatively smooth elastic dough.
5. Roll the dough into a ball and seal it in cling film. Leave it to rest for 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes. Cut ⅕ of the dough off and reseal the rest. Use a rolling pin or the heel of your hand to flatten the piece of dough enough to pass it through a pasta rolling machine. You can also just continue using a rolling pin to roll the dough out to the required thickness and size.
7. If using a pasta machine, pass the dough 2-3 times through the widest setting, folding it into thirds each time. Then pass it through the next 2-3 settings depending on what size you want it. The pasta sheets need to be quite thin. (3mm or 1/10 in).
8. In order to get larger sheets, it's better to finish rolling out using a rolling pin on a floured work surface. This is what I did, as my pasta machine doesn't produce wide enough sheets.

Make the béchamel.

1. Melt the butter in a non-stick saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour and stir until you have a smooth paste.
2. Add the milk a little at a time and continue to stir until the sauce starts to thicken. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. You can also add grated Parmigiano if you desire.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool covered with cling film. If your bechamel seems lumpy whisk with an immersion blender!

Make the pasta roses and bake them.

1. Put a fresh pasta sheet onto a floured piece of baking paper. Cover the pasta with a thin layer of stracchino cheese and sprinkle grated Parmigiano on top of the stracchino. Then cover with thin ham slices.
2. If you aren't using a soft creamy cheese, cover one edge of the pasta sheet with a spoonful of béchamel to prevent the pasta rolls from opening. The béchamel acts like a glue.
3. Roll the sheet into a swiss roll shape. If it's very long cut it in half. If you have the time, wrap the rolls in the baking paper and leave in the fridge for an hour or more. This makes them easier to cut but isn't obligatory.
4. Repeat the filling process with all the pasta sheets and the rest of the ham and cheese.
5. Coat the bottom of an oven dish with bechamel. Cut the pasta rolls using a very sharp knife into 3cm pieces (1.2in) and place side by side in the oven dish.
6. Pour the rest of the bechamel over the pasta roses and sprinkle with parmigiano.
7. Cover with aluminium foil and cook at 180° in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove the aluminium foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the top becomes golden and crispy.
8. Serve with extra grated parmigiano and chopped parsley if desired