Open Ravioli With Mascarpone Sauce & Smoked Salmon

Here I am ready to use the lasagne sheets I made with my coloured pasta dough. I thought a lot about what kind of filling I was going to use with them and in the end the choice fell on a rich and velvety cheese sauce, with a delicate flavour, enhanced by the smoked salmon. I wanted to use mascarpone cheese, which is usually tend to regard as an ingredient for sweet preparations. I like its intense creaminess and I added ricotta for lightness. I created the basis for the sauce with a little onion cooked slowly and added the inevitable herbs, this time a touch of scented basil. The pasta sheets provided a substantial basis to this dish that reaches higher levels with the addition of the salmon and a few drops of lemon juice.
A main course simple and inexpensive that I really loved and enjoyed in all its riot of flavours.

Ingredients for four servings:

• 8 small lasagne sheet (mine were about 12cm x 5 cm)
• 1/4 golden onion
• 1 knob of butter
• 100 g ricotta cheese
• 4 teaspoons + 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
• a few basil leaves, the larger ones finely chopped
• 50 g smoked salmon, cut into small pieces + 4 thin strips for garnish
• organic lemon juice and a few slices for garnish
• salt
• pink peppercorns

Heat pot of water and bring to a boil. Prepare your decorations by making roses with thin strips of salmon, wash and dry small tops of basil leaves and cut thin lemon slices. Chop the onion very finely and shallow fry it in the butter over low heat. Pass the ricotta through a sieve and add to the onions along with the mascarpone. Bring to a boil and lower the heat, add the salmon, let reduce and add the chopped basil. As soon as the water boils, add salt and cook the pasta for a few minutes until al dente. With the help of kitchen tongs drain the pasta and  spread it out on a towel.

Assemble the plates by placing a lasagne sheet in the centre of the serving dish, top it with 1/4 of the cheese sauce and salmon, pour a few drops of lemon juice over the filling, cover with another lasagne sheet. Finish the dish with a spoonful of mascarpone cheese, a slice of lemon, a salmon rosette, the reserved basil leaves and a sprinkling of pink pepper. Serve immediately.

The dish is easy to prepare and very nice to present. The flavours are full of all the elements melt in a harmonious way. I suggest serving this delicious dish as a starter for a fish dinner, roast fish maybe,  cooked on a bed of thinly sliced mixed vegetables as I have eaten many times at home in Tuscany.