Nidi di Rondine

This is nothing more than a pasta casserole dish. San Marino's chefs top Nidi di Rondine with a variety of ingredients. Bechamel sauce, prosciutto, basil, Italian cheese, and so on are examples. San Marino residents use this spaghetti casserole to form cylindrical buns. If you're making the Nidi di Rondine from scratch, remove it from the oven after the crust is brown and crispy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 batch homemade pasta dough , or store bought sheets of fresh lasagna, Bechamel sauce, 2 Tbsp butter, 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, salt
• Filling: 8-10 oz ham , thin slices, 8-10 oz mozarella very thin slices, 1/2 cup Parmesan , to spoon on top of each nest, 2-3 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions

• Start by making the homemade pasta. Set it aside to rest for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the bechamel: melt the butter in a pot. Whisk in the flour and nutmeg until completely combined, then whisk together with a little milk. Keep adding milk a little at a time until a smooth, thick sauce forms. Set aside.
• Next, roll out the pasta dough into a large rectangle (remember we’re just using half a batch)… My rectangle was about 14″x21″ or so (bigger is fine). Top with half the bechamel sauce… then ham, then cheese. Tip – use really thin slices of cheese…have the deli counter slice it for you.
• Then roll up into a long tube. Freeze for about 30 minutes (this will make it so easy to slice). If you need to slice it in half to fit in your freezer, go for it.
• Preheat the oven to 325F and oil a casserole liberally. Spoon in the remaining half of the bechamel sauce. Remove the pasta roll from the freezer and slice to make individual nests. The best way to make them equal sized is to slice the roll in half, then half again, and so on. (mine ended up being about 1 1/2 inches high).
• Brush the sides with olive oil so they don’t stick to each other and then place, cut side up in the casserole. Top with 1/2-1 tsp grated Parmesan per spiral and bake at 325F for 45-50 min