Rotolo alla vodka

The cosy, saucy energy of lasagne – without the fuss. These easy pasta spirals are packed with mortadella and ricotta, then baked in a rich, creamy sauce.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You can use dry sheets here too, though I’ve opted for fresh simply to skip the extra step of par-boiling them first.

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