The History of Creating Great Lasagna

By: Danny Ashton
Lasagna has turned global! Turn the pages of a restaurant’s menu and you will find a variety of lasagna dishes to choose from. From where you are, you can search the internet and in seconds, a number of lasagna versions are flashed faster than you can read it. From the original Italian lasagna, it turned into a vegetable lasagna, pumpkin lasagna, and spicy chipotle lasagna. It varies by country, from Italian version it has been modified by the Americans, the British, the Canadians and there is even a Filipino version of lasagna. Each dish customized to satisfy its clientèle.

Let’s go back to its origin. The word lasagna takes root from the Greek word laganon (λάγανον) which means a flat sheet of pasta dough cut into strips. As its origin dictates, the novelty of a lasagna dish is that it comes in alternating layers of lasagna with various sauces, cheeses, and other ingredients may it be meat, chicken or vegetables.
History tells us that word lasagna was also taken from the name of its serving dish. The Greek word lasana ( λάσανα) or lasanon (λάσανον) meaning chamber pot was borrowed by the Romans to refer to their cooking pot and named it “lasanum”.
In Italy this is where the lasagna is made from. So the name stuck with the name of its serving dish.

Lasagna allows creativity. You just have to have the following: pasta, cheese, fillings, the sauce and seasonings. Your budget and your adventurous streak will do the rest. But here’s the Pandora's box to a successful lasagna creation. It contains the “must do” to ensure a successful dish.

Whether you have our own concoction or you use the one in the cookbook, try to use the best ingredients you can afford. Never skimp and buy substandard ingredients. There is always a price to good cooking.

The heat used in cooking can create negative vibes with aluminum and react with the acid in the sauce thus making the lasagna taste bad. Therefore never use aluminum. The noodle is what holds your creation. Lasagna noodles come in different styles: flat, ruffled along the edges to trap its sauce or rippled along the way. Imagine a corrugated
sheet and that’s how it looks like. The pasta must be able to stand repeated heating and re-heating. Because of this, it would be best to undercook the pasta a little less by 2 minutes.

Lasagna is also eaten best if “hot”. The re-heating makes the ingredients absorbed one another. But to make it good, it must remain chewy and resilient even after repeated boiling and baking. So, leave room for the noodles to pass the heat test. The sauce is the secret to success but never outdo it. Try to add the right amount of sauce. You would know you overdid it if your lasagna falls apart when serve. Your noodles have been subjected to too much water and have turned soggy.

The secret sauce needs to blend well and reach maturation. Try making your ragu, bechel or your spaghetti sauce a day before to get that flavorful effect. As the saying goes, planning ahead gives you an edge.

Preserve your dish by covering it with aluminum foil. This would prevent the top of the dish from burning. Even when you re-heat the lasagna, always tent your dish with foil. After cooking do not serve immediately. Let the cheese toppings melt and flow inside the dish. Let it journey inside and make friends with the rest of the concoction.

The Pandora's box is open. Check it out to make the difference!

Published At: Isnare.com