Lasagne: The Layered Baked Pasta Dish
Lasagne is a baked dish of flat pasta sheets layered with sauce and cheese, with the earliest written reference dating to 1282 in Bologna. The internationally famous version, lasagne alla bolognese, layers ragù, béchamel, and parmesan; the name traces to Greek laganon.
Lasagne (also lasagna) refers both to broad flat sheets of pasta and to the baked dish made by layering them with sauce and cheese. The dish originated in Italy in the Middle Ages, with the oldest written reference dating to 1282 in Bologna. **Regional traditions.** Two major styles dominate: the Bologna (Emilia-Romagna) version, which is the most internationally recognized, and a Naples style traditionally served during Carnival. **Lasagne alla bolognese / al forno.** The best-known form layers sheets of pasta with Ragù alla Bolognese (a sauce of onion, carrot, celery, finely ground pork and beef, butter, and tomato), béchamel sauce, and Parmesan cheese, then bakes it in the oven. The Northern Italian tradition emphasizes Béchamel: One of the Five French Mother Sauces for creaminess, whereas Italian-American recipes often substitute ricotta cheese. The Ferrara variant, lasagne alla ferrarese, uses green pasta sheets colored with spinach. **Etymology.** The word derives from the Greek laganon, a flat sheet of pasta dough cut into strips, later adopted by the Romans as lasanum (a cooking pot). For assembly technique and cheese quantities, see Lasagne: The Two-Sauce Layered Bake.