Lasagna is one of the great classics of Bolognese cuisine and boasts two recipes that have been filed with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. The officially registered recipes use 00-grade Italian flour, but if necessary you can try substituting with all-purpose flour.  Buon appetito!

Green Lasagna (Lasagne verdi alla Bolognese)

To serve four people, you will need 350 grams of 00-grade flour, two eggs, and 200 grams of boiled spinach, squeezed dry with a towel and chopped. Then, for the filling, 500 grams of ragù, 200 grams of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, 350 grams of bechamel, and 100 grams of butter, as well as nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

To prepare the pasta, combine eggs, flour, and spinach. Now roll out into a light green dough without letting it get too thin. Cut the sheets into 15 × 10 cm rectangles and toss them into a pot of boiling salted water. Remove them from the water as soon as they float to the surface and cool them quickly in cold water before letting them dry on a cotton or linen cloth.

Grease the bottom of the pan with butter and cover with a few spoonfuls of ragù and bechamel. Cover everything with rectangles of pasta, then spread a thin layer of bechamel on top, a generous layer of ragù, then Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and finally dot the surface with small cubes of butter. This procedure must be repeated for a total of at least six layers.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 180° Celsius in a preheated oven, then grill for no more than two minutes.

Yellow Lasagna, also known as “Drop of Gold” Lasagna (Lasagna goccia d’oro)

To serve four people, you will need 400 grams of 00 flour, 4 eggs, 300 grams of ragù, 100 grams of sweetbreads, 150 grams of chicken liver, and some bay leaves. You will also need 300 grams of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, 250 grams of cream, 100 grams of butter, as well as nutmeg, salt, and pepper for the dressing. Finally, for the sautéed mushrooms you need 400 grams of porcini mushrooms, two cloves of garlic, and a handful of chopped parsley, as well as olive oil, salt, and pepper.

First, prepare a standard Bolognese ragù with bay leaves. Then, while the sauce is still cooking, add the sweetbreads cut into chunks. After fifteen minutes add the liver and allow all the flavors to mingle for another fifteen minutes. Wash the mushrooms well and dry them before slicing. Brown them in a pan with hot oil and finely chopped garlic. Once cooked, season with salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of parsley.

For the pasta: prepare a fairly thin sheet of dough and cut into 10 × 15 cm rectangles. Boil until al dente, one or two at a time in salted water with a bit of olive oil added to the pot. Carefully drain them and allow to dry on a cloth. Grease an ovenproof dish and spread a layer of pasta on the bottom. Cover it with cream, a layer of the prepared ragù, and plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano. Move on to the second layer of pasta, another layer of cream, then a layer of mushrooms with still more Parmigiano Reggiano. The third layer of pasta is again followed by cream, ragù, and Parmigiano Reggiano, and the fourth with cream, mushrooms, and Parmigiano Reggiano. The final layer is a thick veil of cream and Parmigiano Reggiano.

Cover the lasagna with a sheet of oven paper and cook for about thirty minutes at 180° Celsius in a preheated oven. Then remove the paper and cook for another ten minutes.

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