How to make the famous pinwheel lasagna and chrysanthemum salad from Don Angie
Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito of critically acclaimed Don Angie restaurant in New York City are stopped by the TODAY kitchen to share two of the restaurant's signature dishes. They show us how to make a Caesar-inspired chrysanthemum salad and saucy lasagna pinwheels.
Don Angie's Lasagna Pinwheels by Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito
We came up with this recipe while brainstorming how to make a pasta dish for two, and landed on lasagna because it's the ultimate crowd-pleaser, the king of all baked pastas, the most impressive thing we could think of. We are not ashamed to admit that the idea for presenting it this way came from a photo of baked cinnamon buns in a pan, though we later learned that there is in fact a classic, pinwheel shaped pasta dish that exists in Italy, called rotolo.
We wanted to make this version taste like classic lasagna and pulled in all the flavors of a true lasagna Bolognese — fresh pasta, besciamella, Bolognese sauce — and added some Italian American twists of our own (i.e. mozzarella, tomato sauce, sweet Italian sausage). It's perfect for sharing, because each person gets a pinwheel, and the whole top is crispy, so every bite is perfect. The lasagna is lighter than most traditional lasagnas because we use robiola cheese instead of ricotta cheese. The pinwheels are easy to share, and they are fun to make.
Don Angie's Chrysanthemum Salad by Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli
This is our take on a Caesar, in distinctly New York fashion, using delicate chrysanthemum greens in lieu of lettuce. We were introduced to these greens when we lived in an apartment on the Lower East Side, near Chinatown, above a restaurant serving Yunnanese food.
We did a Caesar-style prep on the greens, with a toasted sesame breadcrumb to bring it back to the original Asian influence, and a snowdrift of finely grated Parmesan atop the whole surface.
If you like those restaurant-worthy recipes, you should also try these:
Chicken Piccata by Becca Jacobs
Carbone's Meatballs by Mario Carbone
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
