These cheesy lasagne sheet skewers deliver the crunchy edges you crave

Lasagne sheets are the overachievers of the carb world. Yes, they can do the classic bubbling tray of bechamel and beef ragu in their sleep. But these flat little multitaskers are secretly capable of many things.

Snap them into crackers, roll them into cannelloni impostors, deep-fry them into crunchy party snacks, or give them a little twist, as I have here, so it’s not just another weeknight lasagne.

Whether you are feeding a crowd, improvising dinner from pantry odds and ends, or simply staring at a packet of fresh lasagne sheets and thinking “what now?” – and yes, you can use dry sheets here too, though I’ve opted for fresh simply to skip the extra step of par-boiling them first – these recipes prove the humble pasta layer has range, and deserves some life beyond the baking dish.

Crispy lasagne skewers meet cacio e pepe’s cousin

Lasagne is one of the world’s great dishes. Not up for discussion. But it is very… soft. Sometimes you want edges, you want crunch that you can drag through something creamy, peppery, and just close enough to cacio e pepe to raise an eyebrow but not start a family argument.

These are the bits you’d usually fight over: the edges, the burnt corners and the crispy folds. Only here, they are the main event. The sauce sits somewhere between a classic bechamel and a sharp cacio e pepe. It’s not a careful dish; it’s messy, cheesy and unapologetically delicious.

You will need four metal skewers for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 300g fresh lasagne sheets
• 200g mozzarella, cut into even slices

Cacio e pepe’s cousin

• 4 tbsp butter
• ½ cup plain flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup cream
• 50g shredded parmesan, plus 1-2 tbsp extra to serve
• 50g shredded pecorino romano
• freshly cracked black pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional).
2. Briefly run the fresh lasagne sheets under hot water, then cut into roughly 5cm squares. Push a few squares onto a skewer, then top with a piece of cheese (think: old-school cabanossi skewers), and follow with a few more squares of lasagne sheet. Repeat until the pasta and cheese on the skewers are about the length of your fist. Finish with a few lasagne squares rather than a piece of cheese. Repeat with the remaining skewers, lasagne squares and mozzarella.
3. Place the skewers on a roasting tray lined with a sheet of baking paper. Brush with melted butter and cook for 15-20 minutes. The sheets should look crisp and the cheese should be melted and browning in spots.
4. While the skewers cook, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, then stir in the flour for about a minute to create a roux. Slowly whisk in the milk until the sauce begins to thicken, then pour in the cream, which gives the sauce a velvety finish. Remove from the heat and whisk in the parmesan and pecorino until smooth. Season generously with a good grind of black pepper.
5. Remove the skewers from the oven. Brush with a little of the sauce and top with the extra parmesan. Return to the oven for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden. Pour the sauce onto a large serving plate. Top with the skewers and season again with freshly ground black pepper.
6. Serve with plates and napkins – you are going to want to swipe and swivel and sauce at will.

Makes 4 skewers

Saucy white bean and sobrasada “sort of” lasagne

This is a “sort of” lasagne in the same way a few drinks with lunch are “sort of” a good idea. White beans step in where you’d expect something heavier, soaking up everything like they’ve been waiting their whole lives for this moment.

Sobrasada, that spreadable Spanish salami, melts into the sauce in a slightly indecent way and is spicy, rich and unapologetic. It turns the whole thing into something very rustic and very delicious.

I think it’s best we say this dish is lasagne-adjacent. Lasagne-inspired. Lasagne that took a detour and sat down at the table with wines at the aforementioned lunch.

And it really comes into its own reheated the next day. Did someone say wines lunch?

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4-6 tbsp sobrasada (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
• 2 cups tomato passata
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 400g can white beans
• 250g fresh lasagne sheets, run under cold water and coarsely torn
• 1 x 150g ball mozzarella, coarsely torn
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• 3-4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170C fan-forced (190C conventional).
2. Heat the oil in an oven-proof frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion, garlic and sobrasada. Turn the heat to low and cook until it is soft and fragrant and the oil has separated from the sobrasada. Stir in the dried herbs and season with sea salt flakes and pepper.
3. Add the passata and stock and stir to combine. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until slightly reduced, then throw in the beans and torn lasagne sheets. Scatter over the torn mozzarella and parmesan and carefully transfer to the oven.
4. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the lasagne is soft where immersed in the sauce and delightfully crisp where the edges are poking through. To serve, season again with sea salt flakes and pepper and toss over some finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Serves 4

Rotolo alla vodka

Think of this as a Swiss roll for the savoury-obsessed: edges crisping where they can, sauce pooling where it wants, and cheese melting without a lick of instruction. It’s a dish that doesn’t demand neat layers or straight lines; it just asks for a willingness to let things collapse into something far better than you planned.

Perfect for those days when you want all the cosy, saucy energy of a lasagne – but without the palaver of a bechamel – this version brings a little chaos and just enough vodka to suggest you’re making bold, if slightly questionable, life choices for a weeknight.

INGREDIENTS

Vodka sauce

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 50g butter
• 2 eschalots (French shallots), finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• ½ cup tomato paste
• 4-6 tbsp vodka
• 2 cups thickened cream
• pinch sea salt flakes

Rotolo

• 375g fresh lasagne sheets
• 375g smooth ricotta
• 200g thinly sliced mortadella
• 1 large bunch basil
• 1 x 150g buffalo mozzarella ball, coarsely torn
• 50g (about ½ cup) finely grated parmesan to serve

METHOD

1. To make the vodka sauce, add the olive oil and butter to a high-sided, oven-proof frying pan and place over low heat. Once hot, add the shallots and garlic and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook until it darkens and comes away from the sides of the pan.
2. Add the vodka and cook for 1 minute before reducing the heat to low and adding the cream. Stir gently to combine. At this point, decide on your baking vessel: you can either keep the sauce in the frying pan and nestle the pasta directly into it or pour the sauce into a separate rectangular roasting dish before assembling the pasta.
3. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
4. To make the rotolo, lay a lasagne sheet on a flat surface. Spread with 2-3 tablespoons of ricotta, then cover with slices of mortadella and a few coarsely torn basil leaves. Roll the sheet up lengthwise into a log and cut into about 3 equal-sized rolls. Don’t worry about precision here. Repeat with the remaining lasagne sheets and filling, adopting a “near enough is good enough” mindset.
5. Nestle the rolls into the vodka sauce, leaving a little room around each one so they can spread and cook evenly. Poke mozzarella pieces into the gaps between and inside the rotolo – it’s not an exact science, so any spot will do.
6. Cover the pan or roasting dish tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling and the edges are golden. Season with parmesan, more basil leaves and a pinch of sea salt flakes, and serve piping hot at the table.

Serves 4-6