Genoese have always been used to eat lasagna on the day of Epiphany, and there is no reason not to respect this tradition! Genoa indeed was the first city in Italy to master the art of making pasta (we are talking about the twelfth century). Yes, before Naples. And therefore in Genoa the tradition of producing and eating fresh and dry pasta is very strong.
Today I share a special recipe of Lasagna, those with pesto and tuna, called “lasagne alla tabarchina”. This is a recipe traditional of Carloforte, a town on the island of San Pietro in Sardinia.
Why a Sardinian recipe on my Ligurian blog? Because this island has been an enclave of Genoa since 1738, when families of coral fishermen from Pegli (Western district of Genoa), coming from the Tunisian island of Tabarka – formerly colonized around 1500 for exploiting the surrounding coral forest – colonized the island importing the Genoese language and culture. The landscape of Carloforte remembers that of the colored Liguria coastal villages and even nowadays folks currently speaks Genoese dialect .
The Ligurian fishermen imported also the culinary heritage of Genoa, and these lasagnas are the perfect example. They are in fact seasoned with bechamel, tuna and Genoese basil pesto. A real explosion of flavors!
If you already have at your disposal lasagnas ready to cook and basil pesto, you can prepare them in a reasonable short time.
If you want to prepare everything from scratch – and I really suggest to do so as nothing is better than lasagnas made from scratch – you can follow the fresh pasta recipe in my post on Turle. You can prepare them even the day before and store in a dry place.
For making pesto – which you can prepare well in advance and store in the freezer for weeks, or in the fridge or a couple of days – I have prepare a complete pesto guide!
Enjoy!
Lasagnas with pesto and tuna, from an old Liguria colony.
Ingredients
- 750 ml of milk
- 30 g of flour
- 50 g butter
- a pack of lasagna (for 4 people)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ blonde onion
- 260 g of canned tuna in olive oil
- 70 ml of white wine
- 5 tablespoons packed grated Parmesan cheese
- 200 g Genoese basil pesto
- salt t.t.
- pepper t.t.
Instructions
- Prepare the béchamel sauce first. Pour into a saucepan the flour and butter, stirring melt the butter, then gradually pour the milk always stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil, reduce the intensity of the flame and cook for at least 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and season with salt.
- Preheat oven to 180ºC
- Cut the onion into thin slices, brown for two minutes with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, add the canned tuna into small pieces and blend with white wine and turn off when the alcohol has evaporated (the tuna should not cook).
- Add the sautéed tuna and onions in the béchamel.
- Boil the lasagna in salted water and let them drain on a tea cloth.
- Assemble the lasagna in a baking dish. Pour on the bottom a thin layer of tuna béchamel, then place a layer of lasagnas, a few tablespoons of tuna béchamel, a couple of teaspoons of Genoese basil pesto and finally a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese. Repeat the sequence until the ingredients finish, ending with a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
- Bake at 180ºC for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.
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