Sunday lunch in Italy is always a family affair – and if we close our eyes, lasagna will always come to mind when we reminisce. A typical recipe of Italian cuisine and a true symbol of the Italian spirit, lasagna is a dish that brings everyone together – both young and old.
Even if every region has its own way of making it. That’s why we want to share the original recipe with you (found below) with some suggestions on delicious recipe variations in the photo gallery above.
What's lasagna?
First of all, what is lasagna? In reality, it is no more than layers and layers of boiled rectangular pasta made with egg or durum wheat, arranged in a baking dish, alternating with a filling that varies according to regional tradition. The oldest recipe, though? Meat sauce and béchamel.
Lasagna: the history and origin
The history of lasagna goes back thousands of years and there’s always been the unresolved dispute regarding the recipe’s origins. The ancient Romans were already writing about it; Apicius, a Roman gastronome and writer, mentions ‘lagana’ – a recipe made with sheets of pasta filled with meat.
This is a dish so good, even historically, that it spread throughout the territory. In the Middle Ages, lasagna conquered the hearts of poets Jacopone da Todi and Cecco Angiolieri, who wrote about it in their compositions, exalting its deliciousness.
And from here, we arrive at the tense lasagna rivarly between the regions of Emilia Romagna and Campania. In Emilia during the Renaissance, the recipe for egg pasta started to spread, becoming the basis for lasagna noodles with meat sauce, a recipe perfected in the seventeenth century and still found in present-day cookbooks.
But when it comes to Neapolitan lasagna recipes, there’s a shift. Here, the base are pasta sheets made with durum wheat and tomato sauce.
So which recipe is the original? In 2003, the Italian Academy of Cuisine added the recipe for Green Lasagna alla Bolognese to its archives. This is a recipe that features the classic Bolognese ragù, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, béchamel sauce, butter and green lasagna made with spinach. But Neapolitan lasagna – made with Neapolitan meat sauce, meatballs, cow's milk ricotta, provola cheese, pecorino cheese, extra virgin olive oil and pasta – in its strictly "white" version (without the tomato) – is a lasagna recipe that has the most historical documentation and written evidence over the years. So? We suggest a truce. Just choose the one that sounds the best to you!
Lasagna: how to make the pasta
Now onto the recipe. We suggest the Bolognese recipe for lasagna noodles, a recipe found in the archives of the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. Let's start with the dough. The ingredients are as follows: 1 lb white flour, 2 eggs, and 9 oz spinach. To make the dough, mix the flour, eggs and boiled spinach. Then roll out the dough, creating a thin sheet, to be cut into large squares. Boil a pot of water and cook the pasta. Let the pasta dry on a cloth.
Lasagna: how to make the sauce
Now let’s make the filling – meat sauce and béchamel sauce. Let's start with the meat sauce. You’ll need the following ingredients: 11 oz ground beef, 5 oz bacon, 2 ½ oz carrot, 2 oz celery, 2 oz onion, 1 ½ cup tomato purée or peeled tomatoes, half a cup of dry white wine, half a cup of whole milk, broth, olive oil or butter, salt and pepper. The procedure? Dice the bacon, chop it and fry it. Add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 2 oz butter, chopped celery, carrot, and onion. Simmer over low heat. Add the meat and brown. Blend in some wine and let it evaporate. Finally, add the tomato purée, cover and simmer for about two hours, occasionally adding a little more broth to the mixture. Finally, add the milk and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Onto the béchamel. You’ll need: 4 oz of pastry flour, 4 oz butter, 4 cups fresh whole milk, fine salt, and nutmeg. How to make it: melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, add the sifted flour and mix with a whisk. Cook until golden and then add milk, salt, and nutmeg.
Lasagna: how to assemble
Now it's time to assemble the various layers. Butter a baking dish and line it with a layer of pasta followed by a layer of meat sauce, béchamel sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese. Continue layering until you run out of ingredients. Make sure that the last layer is béchamel. Add some butter to the top and bake in the oven at 325°F (160°C) for about half an hour. Check the surface and once golden brown, remove from oven and serve hot.