Southern Italian Lasagna Recipe (Lasagne di Carnevale)

Name: Southern Italian Lasagna Recipe (Lasagne di Carnevale) - Your Guardian Chef
Uploaded: 2023-02-13T07:27:40+00:00
Duration: 5 min 25 s
Description: This southern Italian lasagna recipe also called lasagna di Carnevale, is a classic dish from Naples served on Fat Tuesday (Martedi grasso).

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This southern Italian lasagna recipe also called lasagna di Carnevale, is a classic dish from Naples served on Fat Tuesday (Martedi grasso). It is a lavish meal traditionally served the day before Lent begins. While the traditional lasagna recipe from Northern Italy is made with Bolognese sauce and white sauce bechamel, this Lasagna alla Napoletana is made with a tomato meat sauce ragu mixed with ricotta cheese and filled with small fried meatballs, mozzarella cheese and hard-boiled eggs.

This is an authentic lasagna recipe from southern Italy, and while the details can vary from family to family, it always has a base of a meat ragu, ricotta cheese and is filled with meatballs.

The ragù alla napoletana can be made with different cuts of beef or pork, but only the tomato sauce is used in the lasagna; the meat can be eaten separately the next day.

This authentic Italian lasagna is a labor of love.

You must prepare the ragu and the meatballs first, then make the lasagna.

However, it is worth all the effort as it is delicious, very fulfilling, and will feed the entire family for days.

A similar filling is often used in southern Italian cuisine; for example, you can also use it in different recipes like the Italian mashed potato pie Gateau or the Eggplant parmigiana.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Which cut of beef is best for ragu
Variations
Equipment
Storage
Top tips
FAQ
Related
Pairing
📋Southern Italian Lasagna Recipe (Lasagna di Carnevale)

lasagna di Carnevale served on a plate a bite on a fork

Ingredients

For the ragu

The ragu is made by simmering the meat in tomato sauce for a long time. However, only the tomato sauce is used for the lasagna, while the meat can be eaten the following day separately.

diced carrot, stalk of celery and onion to make a soffritto
sausages
pork ribs
beef shank or round or chuck
red wine optional
Tomato sauce: you can check out the Italian homemade tomato sauce. As this lasagna doesn't use bechamel sauce; you need a large amount of tomato sauce to keep it creamy
salt
extra virgin olive oil

Meatballs

The little meatballs should be very small to keep the lasagna layers leveled

lean ground beef
stale bread
milk
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese)
egg
salt
vegetable oil for frying

ingredients for the little meatballs with names

Lasagna

Once the ragu and the meatballs are done, you can proceed to layer the lasagna

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Making the ragu

To make this ragu I use a pressure cooker. If you use a regular pan you will have to simmer it for 2 hours

Dice the carrot, celery and onion

Stir fry with some extra virgin olive oil to make a soffritto

Add the pork rib, the sausage and the beef shank

Stir with a wooden spoon until the meat is seared

Add some red wine and let it evaporate

Season with salt and add the tomato sauce

Let the ragu cook for 35 minutes in the pressure cooker

Remove the meat from the ragu

Hint: if you don't have a pressure cooker, let it simmer at low heat for 2 hours

Pour the ragu into a large bowl and let it cool down at room temperature

Making the little meatballs

Soak the stale bread in milk for an hour

Drain the excess milk

Add to the bread the minced meat, egg and Parmesan cheese

Add to the bread the minced meat, egg, Parmesan cheese and salt

Mix with your hand until they are combined

Roll in the palms of your hands a small piece of the mixture

Make small meatballs 0.5 in - 1 cm diameter

Lay them over a tray

Heat some vegetable oil for deep frying (you can use a deep fryer)

Fry the meatballs

Remove from the oil

Place on a paper towel to drain the excess oil

Preparing the ingredients

Prepare the rest of the ingredients you need to layer the lasagna.

Hard boil the eggs

Remove the shell

Slice them very thinly with an egg slicer

mozzarella and boiled eggs cut into thin slices

Cut the mozzarella into thin slices, I use the egg slicer for the mozzarella as well

In a bowl, add some ragu to the ricotta

Work it with a fork to loosen it up

Composing the lasagna

Place all the ingredients around the lasagna baking dish

Start spreading some ragu at the base of the baking dish

Place the first layer of pasta (I do no boil lasagna noodles)

With a spoon, spread some ricotta cheese mixture over the lasagna pasta sheets

Hint: I use fresh lasagna sheets and do not boil it before making the lasagna. I use a large amount of tomato sauce so the lasagna cooks in it

Then spread the ragu sauce

Place some meatballs

slices of boiled egg and mozzarella cheese in between the meatballs

In between the meatballs, place some slices of boiled egg and mozzarella cheese

Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese

Cover with the next layer of lasagna sheets

Keep building the layers until all the pasta sheets are use

On the top layer, pour the remaining sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Bake in a hot oven at 355 F - 180 C for 30 minutes

Serve warm

How to serve it

This Lasagna di Carnevale is a complete meal containing plenty of proteins and vegetables.

We do not serve side dishes in Italy with pasta or Lasagne al forno.

However, you can serve a salad as a starter or a bruschetta with Caprese or mushrooms

For dessert, as this lasagna is served at Carnival, you can serve it with the classic Italian Carnival desserts: fried Italian donuts Graffe di Carnevale or Chiacchiere.

Southern lasagna served on a plate showing the meatballs inside

Which cut of beef is best for ragu

The best cuts of beef to use in the stew are the cheaper cuts, usually well-worked muscles.

Because they worked a lot, they are lean and tough but with a lot of connective tissues.

Those tissues melt when cooked for a long time forming thick creamy gelatin.

In the chart below you can see where those cuts are located. They are called:

8 & 9 Shank in Italian Campanello or Muscolo, in French Jarret, Gîte
10 & 11 Round in Italian Girello or Controgirello, in French Semelle, Jumeau
12 Chuck in Italian Giovarro or Collo, in French Collier

If you want to know more about the difference among those cuts you can read an interesting article on Seriouseats.com : Stew Science: How to Choose the Best Cuts for Beef Stew.

Are you interested in knowing more about cuts of beef and their names also in French and Italian? You can find more information in the article: Cuts of Beef for Barbecuing

Variations

There are many lasagna variations in Italy; you can check out the easy no-boil lasagna recipe made with dry noodles, ragu and bechamel.

I will publish more types of lasagna in the coming days.

Equipment

To simplify this lasagna recipe, I use a pressure cooker to make the ragu and a deep fryer to fry the meatballs.

However, if you do not have a pressure cooker you can simmer the rage for 2 hours in a regular large pot.

You can deep fry the meatballs in a regular pot.

I use an egg timer for boiling eggs that change the color based on how well the eggs are done.

To slice the eggs and the mozzarella into very thin slices I use an egg slicer stainless steel

Storage

This lasagna is better eaten fresh the same day; however, it stores well for two days in the fridge in an airtight container.

If you have leftovers you can freeze them, as long as the ingredients were not previously frozen.

It is best not to fully cook again a frozen lasagna.

Let it defrost in the fridge overnight and place it in a hot oven covered with aluminum foil for 10 minutes

Top tips

This is a long recipe to make, you can prepare the ragu and the meatballs the day before
Remove the meat from the ragu and only use the sauce for the lasagna. You can eat the meat separately the next day
It is best not to freeze it. Do freeze it if you have leftovers, but only if the ingredients were not previously frozen
I use fresh lasagna sheets and do not boil them before making the lasagna. I use a large amount of tomato sauce, so the lasagna cooks in it

lasagna in the baking pan with a slice cut

FAQ

What is the difference between northern and southern Italy lasagna?

Northern lasagna is made with Bolognese ragu and Bechamel white sauce, while southern lasagna is many with Neapolitan ragu, meatballs, ricotta and boiled eggs

Should lasagne have bechamel or ricotta?

The lasagna in the north of Italy are made with bechamel, the one from southern Italy is made with ricotta. Both delicious!

Is lasagna better with ricotta or cottage cheese?

The authentic Italian lasagna is not made with cottage cheese, either ricotta or bechamel.

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with Lasagne di Carnevale:

If you are making any of this Southern Italian Lasagna Recipe, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, or sign up to my newsletter.

Southern Italian Lasagna Recipe (Lasagne di Carnevale)