Name: Lasagne di carnevale (Holiday Lasagna)
Yield: Serves 8 as main course (12 as a first course)
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 4 cups sugo from braising a large piece of meat such as Rolled Pork Shoulder from Calabria or Sicilian Stuffed Beef Roll with Tomatoes and Red Wine; 1 pound fresh lasagna noodles, parboiled, drained, and laid on kitchen towels; 2 cups sautéed sliced mushrooms (optional); 1 pound small meatballs, such as double recipe meatballs for “Health” Soup with Meatballs and Greens or Meatballs from Sardinia, cooked, or 1 pound sweet sausages with or without fennel, cooked and cut into ½-inch pieces; 2 cups cooked shelled English peas (optional); 2 pounds ricotta cheese; Unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into bits, for topping; 1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced; 1½ cups grated Parmesan cheese; 4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced (optional)

Preparation info

Serves
8
as main course

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Italian Slow and Savory

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 2004

About

More elaborate than the basic lasagna of sugo and besciamella, and served on holidays and for special events, this is the baroque lasagna of the Italian south, prevalent in Campania, where it is called sagna chiena; in Calabria, where it is known as sagna chine; and in Basilicata. In this festive dish, meatballs and/or cooked sausage, pieces of salami, cooked peas, artichokes or mushrooms, and sometimes hard-boiled eggs are added along with ricotta, mozzarella, a