Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients:

Homemade ricotta:
• 1 gallon whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup lemon juice

Filling:
• 1 cup homemade ricotta (recipe below)
• 1 cup fresh rock shrimp
• 2 egg yolks
• Salt and pepper to taste

Tomatoes:
• 3 plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• ¼ teaspoon dried basil
• ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon fresh garlic, chopped
• ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Pasta:
• 2 cups semolina flour
• 2 cups Durham flour
• 4 large eggs, slightly beaten
• ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Rock shrimp sauce:
• 1½ ounces olive oil
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 rib celery
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1½ cups shrimp shells
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 ounces brandy
• 3 cups fish broth
• 2 Tablespoons whole butter
• 4 ounces fresh rock shrimp
• 1 ounces fresh peas, shucked and blanched
• 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped

Method:
For ricotta:
Sterilize all equipment with a solution of 2 ounces bleach and 2 quarts water. Boil milk and heavy cream together. Add lemon juice and bring back to a boil. Pull pot off heat and let stand 5 minutes. Pour liquid though a cheesecloth and chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

For filling:
Purée all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth. Pass through a tamis and reserve.

For tomatoes:
Preheat oven to 250°F. Mix all ingredients together and place on wire oven rack. Cook tomatoes at 250°F for 1 hour.

For pasta:
Place flour in mixing bowl. Make a small well in the center and add beaten eggs and oil into the middle. Gradually work in the eggs, incorporating a little flour at a time until all is mixed in and dough begins to form. Adjust with flour or water until the dough is a solid mass that is firm, but not too sticky. Cover dough and rest for 15 minutes.
To roll out dough using a pasta machine, cut it into 4 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping the others covered, dust with flour, shape it into a flat square, and roll through the machine on the widest setting.
Repeat 2 more times on this setting, shaping the dough into a square each time, then switch to the next thinnest setting. Roll again, but don't shape into a square first.
Switch to the next lower setting. Roll again without shaping into a square first. Repeat this process two more times until you reach the second-to-thinnest setting on your pasta machine. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of dough.
When you have rolled out all of the dough, lay the lasagna sheets out on a lightly floured counter and cut into 12 x 2-inch sheets using a fluted pastry wheel. (Once the lasagna is cut into sheets, it can be dried, frozen, or cooked immediately.)

When ready to assemble the lasagnette, boil two pasta sheets in salted water until al dente and reserve. Reserve remaining pasta for other uses.

For rock shrimp sauce:
Sweat onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in olive oil. Add shrimp shells. Add tomato paste and paprika and cook out for two to three minutes over moderate heat. Add brandy and flambé. Add fish broth and simmer for 45 minutes. Purée in blender with whole butter. Pass through a chinois and adjust seasoning. In a pan, warm rock shrimp and peas over low heat until the shrimp are cooked through. Add parsley and reserve.

To assemble:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

For one lasagnette, make 3 separate piles of filling – one large Tablespoon of shrimp and ricotta filling each – on greased parchment paper. Place half of a roasted tomato on top of each pile and bake in the oven until heated through.

Place the end of one noodle (about ¼ of the pasta sheet) on the center of a serving plate and allow the rest to hang off the edge. Place one pile of hot filling on top of the pasta in the center of the plate and fold the pasta over it. Place another pile of filling on top of that and fold pasta over again. Repeat with the final pile of filling and end with a top layer of pasta. There should be three layers of filling, beginning and ending with a layer of pasta. Pour the shrimp sauce over the top of the lasagnette and serve immediately.

Wine pairing:
An Italian rosé such as the Tasca d’Almerita Rosé di Regaleali 2003