Pasta, rice and grains
Lasagne alla bolognese
Layers of fresh egg pasta, slow-cooked meat ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano Reggiano, baked until golden.
Lasagne alla bolognese, from Emilia-Romagna, layers thin sheets of fresh egg pasta, often green with spinach, with ragù, béchamel and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, then bakes until the top is crisp. Southern Italy has its own lasagne, made with ricotta, mozzarella and small meatballs, especially for Carnival in Naples.
What goes in
- Parmigiano Reggiano313%, Between every layer.
- Fresh egg pasta626%, Often green with spinach.
- Ragù bolognese835%, Slow-cooked meat sauce.
- Béchamel522%, Light and smooth.
- Butter14%, Dotted on top.
Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each ingredient's share of the dish.
Made step by step
Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional way, in outline.
Step 1: Simmer Cook the ragù slowly for several hours. Step 2: Knead Roll out fresh pasta, cut into sheets and blanch briefly. Step 3: Grate Make the béchamel and grate the cheese. Step 4: Layer Layer pasta, ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano in a buttered dish, repeating several times. Step 5: Layer Finish with béchamel, cheese and a few pieces of butter. Step 6: Bake Bake until bubbling and golden at the edges. Step 7: Rest Rest before cutting so the layers hold. Finished Lasagne alla bolognese, by share.
North and south
Flat pasta sheets are among the oldest forms of pasta in Italy. The Bolognese version uses no mozzarella or ricotta: its cheese is Parmigiano Reggiano, scattered between every layer, with béchamel for richness. In Naples, lasagne di Carnevale is heavier, with ricotta, mozzarella or fior di latte, small meatballs, sausage and sometimes hard-boiled egg, eaten before the Lenten fast.
Patience
The ragù is cooked for hours, the pasta is rolled very thin, and the béchamel is kept light. Assembling the dish takes time, which is why lasagne is usually a Sunday or holiday dish in Italy. Outside Italy, versions with mozzarella and dried pasta sheets are common, and the dish is one of the most widely cooked Italian recipes in the world.
Where it is used
The cheeses in it
RicottaLayered in Neapolitan lasagne.
MozzarellaUsed in southern and foreign versions.
ParmesanA hard, granular cow's-milk cheese aged at least a year in northern Italy.Also part of it, and being written: Parmigiano Reggiano (The cheese of the Bolognese version.).
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and kitchen makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ricotta: 8w9d, CC0, source
- Parmesan: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mozzarella: Popo le Chien, CC BY-SA 3.0, source