A sudden rainfall this morning cooled us off enough that I was inspired to make a Sunday Lasagna, Tuscan Style. No Ricotta, no mozzarella, this light lasagna bakes up more like a delicate souffle, melting in your mouth! Lasagna al Forno is the baked lasagna where as lasagna can also be a smaller noodle as the one used for the Lasagne di San Lorenzo, celebrated August 10th, when the vendors at the San Lorenzo Market in Florence offer Lasagna and watermelon to all!
I had some leftover Duck Ragu from a cooking class and some fabulous dry Lasagna Riccia from the Garofolo factory in Naples.
I preheated the oven, whipped up some Bechamel sauce and had my husband Andrea, grate the parmesan cheese.
I make my sauces liquid, so that I don’t have to precook my pasta noodles, allowing them to soak up the extra liquid to cook the pasta while baking, saving me time and trouble!
In Florence Ragu is called Sugo and is made mostly with beef, sometimes adding a little pork for extra fat and flavor! It is also surprising how little tomato sauce is used in making Sugo or Ragu. Tomatoes are fairly new to Italy, only being used since 1650’s after the discovery of the New World. I often make my sugo without tomato, using red wine in it’s place. I call this my Sugo DiVino!
Tuscan Lasagna al Forno
Cover the bottom of a baking dish with some sugo and béchamel sauce.
Place a layer of dry pasta on top.
Cover with béchamel, ragu and sprinkle with parmesan.
Repeat.
For a light meal I only did 4 layers, an Italian Mamma’s party lasagna would be at least 10 layers, using fresh pasta!
Bake at 375 until a knife easily pierces through the pasta, showing it is cooked!
Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Hey Judy — was that duck ragu left over from our June 14th class? (if so, you froze it, I presume). I have a wonderful photo of that sauce on the stove, and even better memories of its fabulous flavor when it was mixed into our risotto.
YUM!
And your photos make me hungry!
Judy from Berkeley
Yes it was…greatleftovers. I thawed it on the stovetop with a little water,and let it recook.
Send me the foto and I will add it to the post!
ciao divina! ho incontrato la tua mamma oggi a St. john vianney church in california! io faccio la musica la’ e mi ha detto da te e il tuo lavoro in toscana. Sono tanto entusiasta di cominciare a provare le tue ricette!!
ryan- thanks for stopping by! sei italiano?
ital-americano…la familia della mia mamma e’ di calabria (cosenza). so good to meet your mom and you! (via the internet ha)
I will try too!
Love your blog, darling! I’m passionate about italian food for years, and this month I’ll be going to Italy for the first time ever 😀 I’ve found some great italy tour packages and I’ll do a “FOOD TOUR” through Venice to get to know the city from the food culture perspective, but I’m also going to people who are really experts on the subject to ask: what are the “MUST EAT” places that I can’t miss during the trip?
Thanks for your posts, they’re awesome!! <3