Parsley Lasagna with clams

Parsley lasagna with clams is an original main course seafood dish, perfect for those who don’t like to go without their fix of fish for long, and which combines this healthy and attractive food to the irresistible delicacy of lasagna, a dish which always enthuses adults and children alike. The lasagne is made with sheets of homemade egg pasta - a real treasure of home cooking – and has been decorated with large parsley leaves which gave them a dramatic touch. At this point, we pull out of the hat the irresistible secret ingredient, namely, a lovely tomato and clam sauce: if necessary, you could also add some cod to the sauce, or even other fish, such as tuna or - for the gourmets among you - some swordfish.

Prepare the parsley lasagne sheets: mix the flour with the eggs until you have a yellow, homogeneous dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes wrapped in cling film, then cut it into 3 equal pieces and roll it out into a number of sheets using a pasta-making machine. When you've got the very thin sheets, spread the washed but undried parsley leaves over half the pasta sheets. Cover with the other half of the pasta sheets, making them stick down well and then pass them through the pasta machine once again. Now cook the clams in a pan over a medium heat in a low casserole with a lid until they open. Remove them from their shells and set aside, along with the filtered cooking liquid. Boil the cod, cut it into smaller slices and set aside. Fry the garlic in a pan in oil, add the peeled tomatoes and, after about 10 minutes, add the clams with their cooking water. Add salt and cook for another 5 minutes to evaporate the liquid. Blanch the parsley sheets in boiling salted water for a minute at most, and drain them wooden work surface or on a clean cloth. Spread a spoonful of sauce with clams on the bottom of a roasting pan, add the first layer of pasta and continue alternating one of clam sauce and one of cod pieces. Continue until all ingredients are used, ending with a layer of clam sauce. Bake the lasagna at 180°C for about 35 minutes, covering with aluminium foil halfway through cooking if it gets too dry. Let it rest for a few minutes and then serve.