By far the best lasagna I’ve ever eaten – an original recipe for lasagna from Emilia-Romagna, as it is prepared in Bologna. With green pasta made from spinach, Ragù Classico Bolognese (Bolognese sauce), Béchamel sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Laborious? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely! Maybe not exactly an after-work dish or for every weekend. But if you want to put something special on the table, this lasagna is eye-catching and incredibly delicious.
What I highly recommend though: Don’t make it all in one day and not just for this lasagna. I only make lasagna myself when I’m cooking Ragù alla Bolognese anyway. Then I just make double the amount and freeze some for the lasagna. You can also make the béchamel in advance and freeze it. And the pasta can be left to dry uncooked. Again, I made more of the green pasta dough than for the lasagna and had great green farfalle for my daughter.
Lasagna sheets
Until I started reading up on recipes from Emilia-Romagna, I didn’t even know that lasagna with green pasta was an authentic original recipe. If you don’t want the hassle of making the lasagna sheets yourself, you can of course make it with store-bought pasta. But homemade, of course, it tastes even better!
What I would definitely do: pre-cook the lasagna sheets briefly. Even though the manufacturers all write that you can use them without precooking, the lasagna will be better if you cook it. Not long, about half way done. I always leave a large saucepan on the stove with salted water, add 2-3 lasagna sheets at a time and fish them out with a slotted spoon or a wooden spoon (it’s a little easier with the slotted spoon). I then place them on a clean towel to dry.
If you make them yourself, you can cut them directly to the size of your casserole dish before cooking them. This way you avoid the puzzle task that would otherwise follow.
Layering the lasagna
Plan on 5-7 layers of lasagna. I personally always make it with 5 layers.
You start by spreading béchamel on the bottom of the baking dish. The béchamel I used was a bit thick, I would have done better with a bit more milk. The lasagna still succeeded, but the béchamel was a bit difficult to spread and more milk wouldn’t have hurt overall.
On top of this layer of béchamel, place a layer of pasta, preferably pre-cooked. Then add Ragù alla Bolognese, Béchamel sauce, sprinkle a little Parmesan on top and again lasagna sheets. Repeat this until the last layer of lasagna sheets. On top of this you add a layer of béchamel, Parmesan cheese and a few knobs of butter.
Again, here are the recipes for the required components:
The time indication of the recipe below is solely for the preparation of the casserole. You’ll have to add the time for the recipe’s components: the ragù, béchamel and the pasta dough. I told you, it is a bit of an effort…
Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes until the desired color is reached. If you don’t want it to be as crispy, cover it with aluminum foil for the first 25 minutes.
I recommend a light salad to go with it. The whole thing by itself is quite rich. And it usually doesn’t stop at one piece 🙂. And a good red wine. Emilia-Romagna is known for Lambrusco and there are supposed to be good examples, but cheap supermarket Lambrusco has thoroughly spoiled my appetite for it. Therefore, I would rather reach for a Sangiovese.
Lasagne Verdi alla bolognese – Authentic green lasagne from Bologna
Equipment
- casserole dish
Ingredients
- 500 g green pasta dough (fresh) or 250g bought pasta sheets (dry)
- 500 g Ragù alla bolognese
- 1 l Béchamel
- 100 g Parmesan grated
- butter flakes
Instructions
- First, roll out the green pasta dough and cut it to the size of your casserole dish. The cut lasagna sheets should still fit in your saucepan, of course.
- Now cook the lasagna sheets. Cook them for only about 3-4 minutes.
- Cook 2-3 at a time depending on the size. I had cut sheets quite big, I only cooked one sheet at a time.
Layering the lasagna
- You'll start by spreading béchamel on the bottom of the casserole dish.
- On top of the layer of béchamel, place a layer of pasta, preferably pre-cooked.
- Then Ragù alla Bolognese, Béchamel sauce, sprinkle a little Parmesan on top and again lasagna sheets.
- Repeat the last step several times until the last layer of lasagna sheets. In total there should be 5-7 layers of lasagna sheets.
- On top of the last layer of lasagna sheets, add a layer of béchamel, Parmesan cheese and a few knobs of butter.
- Bake the whole thing for 30-40 minutes until the desired color at 180°C top and bottom heat, no convection. If you want it less crispy, cover it with aluminum foil for the first 25 minutes.
Please rate my recipe before you leave 🙂:
Recipe source: https://www.tortelliniandco.com/green-lasagna-alla-bolognese-recipe/?lang=en
Cooked with love on From zero to curry.
