Details
4
35 minutes
20 minutes
347.9 kcal
Lasagna rollups with a tinge of Thai has subtle flavors. The beauty of this dish lies in the perfect balance between the blandness of the lasagna strips and the spicy taste of Thai paste fused with herbs and cheese.
My husband loves Thai curries, but I have not had the experience of good Thai cuisine. I wanted to explore a combination of Thai spices with some other cuisine instead of going the traditional red-curry/green curry route. My curiosity led me to experiment with the combination of Thai with Italian.
The result is the Lasagna rollups with Thai tinge served in barley gravy.
Barley is a very healthy grain. It is rich in many nutrients and packs some impressive health benefits, ranging from improved digestion and weight loss to lower cholesterol levels and a healthier heart. Though barley has a high nutritional value, it remains one of the unappreciated grains in many countries. This is why I created a recipe with barley in it. It tastes surprisingly delicious and goes well with the Thai spice infusion in the lasagna rolls.
The infusion of the Thai red curry paste in the lasagna rolls adds a nice spicy kick which is toned down by the creamy barley sauce.
Hope you enjoy this dish as much as my husband did.
Ingredients for Rollup
1 tsp salt (for boiling lasagna strips)
Thai red curry paste
32 small slices of cheese
I used French , Swiss , Creamy Havarti & Dutch Gouda cheese – 4 cheese slice per roll up.8 big spinach leaves
1 medium size capsicum – sliced
1 medium onion – sliced
Salt to sprinkle on rollups
Ingredients for Gravy
1/4 cup barley
3 cups whole milk
1/4 tsp nutmeg
20g butter
1 tbsp refined flour
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Directions
- Preparation
- Take ¼ cup Barley and put it in an Instapot or pressure cooker.
- Pour 2 cups of milk and ¼ tsp Nutmeg. Cover the Instapot with lid.
- Cook the barley at porridge setting (porridge setting has 20 minutes of slow cooking).
If cooking in pressure cooker cook for 25 minutes on low flame. - In a pan, put 4 cups of water bring it to a boiling point and turn off the heat.
- Next add 8 big leaves of Spinach to the water. Keep the spinach leaves in the hot water exactly for ten seconds and remove them in a plate and keep them aside.
- Making the Lasagna Rollups
- In a pan pour water and boil it. Once the water reaches the boiling point add ½ tsp salt and place 4 Lasagne strips in it.
- Boil on medium flame for 13 minutes. After 13 minutes of boiling remove the strips from the water with a tong and place them flat on greased plates. Once the strips cool down cut the strips in half and place them on a greased baking tray.
- Apply red Thai curry paste on all strips.
- On top of Thai curry paste, place the blanched spinach leaves.
- On top of each spinach leaves place 2 slices of cheese at one corner of the strip.
- Place sliced Capsicum and onion on top of cheese slices. On each lasagna strip sprinkle a pinch of salt.
- Roll up the strips, taking care that onion, capsicum and cheese stuffing do not fall out from the sides of the rolls.
To avoid the strips to unroll put a toothpick through it from the top.
Place 2 slices of cheese on top of the rolls. - Preheat the oven at 350o Fahrenheit (180o Celsius) for 10 minutes. Place the tray carrying stuffed Lasagna strips in the oven. Bake the strips for 15-20 minutes. Once the rolls are baked and cheese is melted remove it from the oven.
- Making the Barley Sauce
- While the strips are baking take a saucepan put 20g butter in it, heat it. Once the butter has melted add refined flour and sauté it lightly on low flame for a minute. Take care to not burn the flour.
- Next pour in a cup of milk and the cooked barley mix. Increase the flame to medium level. Stir the mix continuously. Take care that there are no lumps formed.
- Cook the mix for 10 minutes or till the mix reaches a thick gravy consistency. Then turn off the flame and keep it aside.
- Presentation
- In a pan on a low flame place spinach leaves flat. Once you place the leaves do not touch them. Let them slowly dry up leaving behind beautiful glossy crispy leaves. Take care the leaves do not get burned. Once you feel the leaves are properly dry and crispy check it with a spoon or spatula. If on touch leaves move easily the leaves are done but if they are stuck then roast them a little longer. This whole leave crispy process takes less than 5 minutes.
- In a plate pour a ladle full barley gravy. Spread and make a bed of the gravy on the plate as shown below.
- Place 2 baked lasagna rolls on top of barley gravy. Decorate the dish with cut cherry tomatoes, sliced olives and pan dried crushed spinach leaves. Your dish is served. You can have it with wine or any beverage of your choice.