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Lasagna della Vigilia (Christmas Eve Lasagna)
There used to be a tradition in Italy of making this lasagna from huge sheets of past that symbolized the cloth that wrapped the Christmas child. In Italy, most people fast all of Christmas Eve day and then at midnight they eat a big feast!
In a large enameled skillet melt the butter slowly over medium low heat.
Add the anchovies and garlic and warm them in the butter about 5 minutes, using a wooden spoon to mash the anchovies as thoroughly as you can.
In a large pot of boiling salted water cook the pasta.
Fresh lasagne noodles will cook in about 1 minute, dried in about 10.
Remove noodles with a slotted poon, drain them very quickly and toss immediately
in a large bowl with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese to coat their slippery surfaces.
Quickly transfer the noodles to the anchovy sauce, grind a lot of fresh pepper over the top
and toss well.
Serve everyone a few lasagne noodles on well-warmed plates.
Serve the rest of the Parmesan cheese on the side.
Makes 6 servings
- originally published in the Holiday 1992 issue of ZuZu