Lasagna heritage
The heritage of lasagna – just like traditional meat sauce – comes from the terrain of a centuries-old rivalry between Naples and Bologna. Although in both cases the ingredients and cooking method are very different, history seems to hint that the very first recipes come from Naples. This may be even more true for lasagna in particular, a dish that enjoys a time of special praise during Carnevale. So even if you can’t try the real version in Naples just yet, you can at least try our recipe for Neapolitan Lasagna with Meatballs. An even richer version of lasagna – as it should be during Carnevale! – this recipe features an elaborate ragù we can make at home!
The spirit of meatballs lasagna
As noted by journalist and gastronome Luciano Pignataro, this particular dish seems to breathe the authentic spirit of this special Italian city that played such a unique role in Europe’s history over the centuries: a metropolis when other metropolises did not exist, Naples was the largest city in Europe until the 18th century (Palermo was the largest city during the Middle Ages). While the middle-class dominated the rest of Italy, Napoli was a city that maintained a populist spirit – a city known to this day for its levels of indulgence and excess. Poverty and nobility, simplicity and baroque tastes – everything is so mixed up it this unique city that the decadent Carnevale spirit where everything is upside-down for a day, a feeling typical of the most hierarchical societies in history (Rome and Venice, just to name some of the Italian cities). In Naples, this lifestyle has taken root like no other – you can even taste it in the recipe for Lasagna with Meatballs!
Lasagna with Meatballs sauce
To make lasagna with Meatballs, you’ll want to use lasagna pasta made with egg – we suggest the ones with wavy edges for a visual effect. For the meat sauce, we’ll use the classic Neapolitan recipe, but using only pork, given the time of year (the slaughter of pigs traditionally took place during Christmas so they would last until the first half of January). Then we add Neapolitan pork chops, ribs and rind to the mix. There’s even some ‘cervellatine’ – thin, long Neapolitan sausages with a subtle flavor made using the tip of a knife. Beef is used to make another ingredient of the lasagna, however: the meatballs! Once prepared (with breadcrumbs, pecorino cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and parsley), the meatballs are then fried and left to soften in the meat sauce. Then the picture truly becomes perfect once you add sheep’s milk ricotta cheese, fiordilatte mozzarella, boiled eggs, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and caciocavallo cheese to the ingredients for this recipe! There are many recipe versions with salami, too. Always Neapolitan sausage, though.
Lasagna with meatballs assembly
In an baking dish greased with extra virgin olive oil, insert the first layer of lasagna noodles followed alternated sausage and meatballs covered by the pork meat sauce. Next a layer of ricotta cheese followed by the other cheese varieties plus the boiled eggs (shelled, of course!). And so on and so forth, layer after layer – until you use up all the ingredients. The distribution of ingredients can be uniformly assembled for each layer, or you can use little "zones" for each ingredient on different layers of lasagna. Every family in Naples has their own specially crafted recipe, honed carefully over the years generation-to-generation. So in Naples, lasagna is no laughing matter – not even during Carnevale.