May I introduce you to Lasagne Verde alla Bolognese?
If you've traveled to the city of Bologna, you've most certainly tried it. If not, you may n...
If you've traveled to the city of Bologna, you've most certainly tried it. If not, you may not have ever encountered it. But, along with tortellini en brodo, mortadella, and Lambrusco, this dish is one of the most iconic foods from the city.
Lasagne Verde alla Bolognese is one of the most classic types of lasagna (lasagne in Italy) that you’ll find in Italy yet you don’t come across it all that much in the United States. It's a delicious recipe for 100% homemade Bolognese-style lasagna with layers of fresh spinach pasta, bechamel sauce, ragu alla bolognese, and lots and lots of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
As opposed to most Italian-American lasagnas that calls for ricotta and mozzarella, this one is a celebration of some of the most famous ingredients from Bologna, namely, prosciutto, egg pasta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. At first the addition of a white sauce might seem strange but its addition helps make this an ethereally light version.
There are so many pointers for this dish that we wrote a whole article to share tips to make a great Lasagne Verde. Here are a few so important we want to reiterate them:
Heads up that we made this recipe during our Cooking Club Lasagna Workshop. So, if you want to see it made step by step -- and get a glimpse of the menu we'd pair this with -- go ahead and check out the recording of the workshop.
Want to cook this recipe at a later date? Pin it to your Pinterest account so you can access it when you need some cooking inspiration!
Okay, now it's time to stock up your panty with all the Italian essential ingredients, then try your hand at making this and then share your creation with us by tagging @saltandwind and #swsociety on social!
rolled into pasta sheets (or 2 pounds store bought fresh lasagna sheets)
for coating the baking dish
(make 1 recipe and you'll have leftovers)
Cook The Lasagna Sheets: Trim the sheets of lasagna as needed so they fit into your lasagna dish.
Bring a pasta pot filled with heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Prepare an ice bath by filling a bowl halfway with ice water. Also keep a rimmed baking sheet and some olive oil nearby.
Drop a few sheets of the pasta into the boiling water and let cook until they’re bright green, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Using tongs or a spider, remove the pasta sheets and plunge it into the ice water bath. Remove each lasagna sheet, spread it out on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Repeat to cook all the lasagne.
You can do this up to one day ahead of time. Store the cooked lasagna refrigerated in an airtight container and let sit at room temperature a few minutes before proceeding.
Assemble The Lasagne: Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Grease a baking dish or lasagna pan with room temperature butter. Have all the ingredients -- the ragu, bechamel sauce, grated Parmigiano Reggiano and the cooked pasta nearby.
Spread 1 cup of the ragu and 1/3 cup of the bechamel on the bottom of the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread it in a thin layer. Place a couple sheets of the lasagna on top so the pan is covered edge to edge (you don’t need to overlap the pasta sheets). Spread 1 cup ragu, 1/3 cup bechamel, and also add in 1 cup of the cheese. Repeat so you make 6 layers.
Garnish the top of the lasagna with the last of the bechamel and the last of the cheese.
Bake The Lasagna: Cover the pan with foil and bake the lasagna for 30 minutes on the middle rack until the cheese is melted. Remove the foil and bake another 30 minutes until the lasagna is browned on the edges and the cheese on top is golden brown.
Rest The Lasagna: Remove the lasagna from the oven and let it rest at least 15 minutes (and up to 1 hour) before serving.
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