Southern Italian Lasagna Recipe (Lasagne di Carnevale)

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.

Jump to:

• 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)

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

Lasagna

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

• fresh lasagna sheets
• ricotta
• mozzarella block
• freshly grated Parmesan
• boiled eggs

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

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

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.

Composing the lasagna

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

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.

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

FAQ

Related

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Pairing

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

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