Name: Lasagne Portofino (Lasagne with Pesto and Gorgonzola Cheese)
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: ⅔ pound/300 g Gorgonzola dolce (the yellow type), foil and rind removed; the cheese should be cut into thumbnail-size pieces; Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional); 1 tablespoon/7 g sweet butter; ¾ cup/85 g pesto; 1½ pounds/650 g lasagne, preferably fresh

Preparation info

Makes
6
servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Recipes from Paradise

By Fred Plotkin

Published 1997

About

Here is an example of a culinary hybrid. The good people of Portofino (and much of Liguria) lived contentedly for centuries on pasta with pesto. Then, following World War II, the towns of the Portofino Peninsula became a popular winter refuge and summer resort for affluent people from Lombardy and Piedmont. These people brought along their taste for rich cow’s milk cheeses, and one of them, Gorgonzola, wound up combined with pesto in lasagne. This is not nouvelle-style fusion, but really a