🍝 Lasagne

Lasagne (singular lasagna) is a baked dish of wide pasta sheets layered with sauce and cheese. The Accademia Italiana della Cucina's classic from Emilia-Romagna, lasagne verdi alla bolognese, uses spinach egg pasta, ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano Reggiano in at least six layers, baked about 30 minutes at 180 °C. ¹²

One of the oldest pasta shapes. De Cecco links lasagna to the Latin «lagana», itself from the Greek «laganon», a large flat sheet cut into strips, and says the name lasagna spread after the year 1000. ⁵ It cites medieval Italian poets: Jacopone da Todi wrote that a grain of pepper beats lasagna in strength, and Cecco Angiolieri warned against making lasagne with someone else's flour. ⁵

The Bolognese recipe. For 4 people the Accademia rolls a light green sheet from 350 g of 00 flour, 2 eggs and 200 g of boiled, squeezed and chopped spinach. ¹ The filling takes 500 g of Bolognese ragù, 200 g of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, 350 g of béchamel and 100 g of butter. ¹ The sheet is cut into 15 × 10 cm rectangles, boiled until they float, dipped in cold water and dried on a cloth. ¹

Layering and baking. In a buttered dish the sheets go in with ragù, béchamel, butter flakes and Parmigiano, each layer pricked three or four times with a toothpick, at least six layers in all. ¹ The dish bakes about 30 minutes at 180 °C, with the grill for no more than two minutes for light browning, and rests five minutes before being served in upright portions. ¹

Dry sheets. Rummo's egg lasagne measure 175 × 80 mm and 0.85 mm thick and cook in 20 minutes; Divella's egg sheets cook in 6, its semolina sheets in 25. ⁷⁸⁹ Italian law requires egg pasta to contain at least four whole eggs, or 200 g of egg, per kilogram of semolina. ¹³ De Cecco's simplest recipe uses ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano, and notes that mozzarella came in only recently. ⁵

A pasta of many regions. Italy's national list of traditional foods records rolled lasagne in Puglia, lasagne with chickpeas in the Salento, «lasagne bastarde» of the Lunigiana in Tuscany, «lasagne da fornèl» in the Veneto and «sagne» in Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise. ¹² In Campania, De Cecco adds, the double curly-edged lasagna riccia holds more sauce in its ruffles. ⁶

Nutrition and allergens. Divella's egg lasagne give 277 kcal and 11 g of protein per 100 g, its semolina sheets 355 kcal and 13 g. ⁸⁹ A classic lasagne contains wheat, egg and milk, three allergens that EU labels must highlight. ¹⁴¹

Lasagne alla bolognese or napoletana. The Accademia's Neapolitan lasagna for 8 is built on a slow ragù of beef or pork with tomato paste and white wine, layered with ricotta loosened in the sauce, tiny fried meatballs, sliced cervellatine sausages, fiordilatte and Parmigiano. ³ It bakes 30 to 40 minutes at 180 °C, with no béchamel at all, while the Bolognese version relies on béchamel and spinach pasta. ³¹

Why it matters to you. For a classic, follow the Accademia: spinach egg sheets, ragù, béchamel, butter, Parmigiano, at least six layers and five minutes' rest. ¹ With dry sheets, read the pack: egg sheets need from 6 to 20 minutes of boiling, or none if they are oven-ready. ⁸⁷¹¹ Check the label for wheat, egg and milk. ¹⁴