Lasagne

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Lasagne

Baked lasagne
Type

Pasta

Course

Main

Place of origin

Italy

Region or state

Campania, Naples

Serving temperature

Hot

Main ingredients

Durum wheat

Variations

Lasagnette

Cookbook: Lasagne

Media: Lasagne

Lasagne (/lznj/ or /lznj/ or /lsnj/, Italian pronunciation: [lazae], singular lasagna)

are wide, flat-shapedpasta, and possibly one of the oldest types of pasta.[1] The word "lasagne",
and, in many non-Italian languages, the singular "lasagna", can also refer to a dish made with
several layers of lasagne sheets alternated with sauces and various other ingredients.
Contents

[hide]

1Origins

2Etymology

3See also

4References

5External links

Origins[edit]
Lasagne originated in Italy, traditionally ascribed to the city of Naples (Campania), where the first
modern recipe was created in the Middle Ages and published in Liber de Coquina (The Book of
Cookery), and became a traditional dish.[2]Traditional lasagne is made by interleaving layers of
pasta with layers of sauce, made with rag, bechamel, Parmigiano-Reggiano and chopped hard
boiled eggs.[citation needed] In other regions and outside of Italy it is common to find lasagne made
with ricotta or mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, various meats (e.g., ground beef, pork or
chicken), miscellaneous vegetables (e.g., spinach, zucchini, mushrooms) and typically flavored
with wine, garlic, onion, and oregano. In all cases the lasagne are oven-baked.
Traditionally, pasta dough prepared in Southern Italy used semolina and water and in
the northern regions, where semolina was not available, flour and eggs. Today in Italy, since the
only type of wheat allowed for commercially sold pasta is durum wheat, commercial lasagne are
made of semolina (from durum wheat).[3]
Emilia-Romagna's intensive farming economy in the northern region of Italy results in plentiful
dairy and meat products, and their commonality in regional cooking more so than the olive oil
found in southern regions of Italy. Pastas from Emilia-Romagna and its capital, Bologna, are
almost always served with a rag, a thick sauce made from ingredients such as onions, carrots,
finely ground pork and beef, celery, butter, and tomatoes.[4][5]

Uncooked lasagne on a bed ofbechamel and rag

A close-up view of lasagne

Etymology[edit]

Vegetable lasagna

In Ancient Rome, there was a dish similar to the traditional lasagne one
called lasana or lasanum (Latin word for "container", "pot") described in the book De re
coquinaria by Marcus Gavius Apicius,[6] but the word could have a more ancient origin. The first
theory is that lasagne comes from Greek (laganon), a flat sheet of pasta dough cut into
strips.[7][8][9][10] The word (lagana) is still used in Greek to mean a flat thin type
of unleavened bread baked for the Clean Monday holiday.
Another theory is that the word lasagne comes from the Greek (lasana) or
(lasanon) meaning "trivet or stand for a pot", "chamber pot".[11][12][13] The Romans borrowed the
word as "lasanum", meaning "cooking pot" in Latin.[14]The Italians used the word to refer to the
dish in which lasagne is made. Later the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish.
Another proposed link, or reference, is the 14th century dish "Loseyn" [15] as described in the
British The Forme of Cury, a cookbook prepared by "the chief Master Cooks of King Richard
II,"[16] which included English recipes as well as dishes influenced by Spanish, French, Italian, and
Arab cuisines.[17] This recipe has similarities to modern lasagne in both its recipe, which features
a layering of ingredients between pasta sheets, and its name. An important difference is the lack
of tomatoes, which did not arrive in Europe until after Columbus reached America in 1492. The
earliest discussion of the tomato in European literature appeared in a herbal written in 1544
by Pietro Andrea Mattioli[18] while the earliest discovered cookbook with tomato recipes was
published in Naples in 1692, though the author had apparently obtained these recipes from
Spanish sources.[18]
As with most other types of pasta, the Italian word is a plural form, lasagne meaning more than
one sheet of lasagna, though in many other languages a derivative of the singular word
"lasagna" is used for the popular dish. In English, lasagne (of whatever spelling) is usually used
for the dish, and some redundantism like "lasagna noodles" can be used for just the pasta.