lasagna — Italy

Lasagna refers both to flat, rectangular sheets of pasta and to the baked dish made from them: alternating layers of pasta, meat sauce, béchamel, and cheese, gratinéed in the oven until golden. It is served in generous squares, cut straight from the baking dish. The dish is reported from central-southern Italy and is now made throughout the country and well beyond it, with countless variants involving vegetables, spinach, eggplant, pesto, fish, seafood, or no meat at all. This version keeps to the classic combination of beef ragù and béchamel. A meat sauce is built from sautéed onion, carrot, and celery, browned ground beef, and crushed tomatoes, then left to simmer slowly until rich and thick. A separate béchamel is made by cooking butter and flour together before whisking in milk, seasoned with a little nutmeg. The dish is assembled in layers of sauce, pasta sheets, béchamel, and cheese, repeated until the dish is full, then baked until bubbling. What distinguishes this version from vegetable-based or seafood variants is its reliance on a long-simmered meat ragù rather than a quicker sauce, and the double presence of parmesan and mozzarella, which gives the top a deep golden crust. Resting the dish briefly before cutting keeps the layers from collapsing.