You may or may not already know it but there is a big difference in the texture and flavor of authentic Italian lasagna and the lasagna you might find as American lasagna. It is true; they are very different although, both types of lasagna are delicious. To begin with, authentic Italian lasagna only makes use of the freshest of ingredients.
You will not find canned tomatoes or frozen packages of spinach in an authentic Italian lasagna recipe. You will also not find that the dish it smothered in all sorts of cheeses like the shredded cheeses that come in large bags of shredded cheeses. You might even be surprised to find that there is absolutely no mention of adding cottage cheese to this type of lasagna recipe.
One thing you might want to consider when you are learning how to make authentic Italian lasagna is to learn how to make your own homemade lasagna noodles to serve with your homemade lasagna recipe whether you are making an authentic Italian lasagna recipe or any other type of lasagna recipe. Learning how to make the noodles is just as easy as learning how to make the sauce and layer it all together in the pan to produce a great tasting meal.
Authentic Italian lasagna will include the freshest of ingredients; you might grow some of them yourself in a backyard or even as a container garden for a lasagna herb garden. You will include some different types of cheeses in your homemade lasagna that may include ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Romano cheese, parmesan cheese, and or provolone cheese. However, you will not include cottage cheese or cheddar cheese in an authentic Italian lasagna recipe.
Is Authenticity Important in Easy Lasagna Recipes?
How to Make Authentic Italian LasagnaThe level of authenticity featured in your homemade lasagna recipes is entirely up to you, because there are many ways to make good lasagna. In Italy it is common to spend up to four hours making a ragu bolognese sauce to go between the layers of homemade pasta noodles, but not every home cook has time for this. In fact, very few of us would be able to spend the day making our own pasta, our own meat ragu, or our own tomato sauce recipes, which is why it is handy that we have other options.
Do you think there is much difference between the flavor of homemade pasta and store-bought pasta? To be honest, a good quality pasta is almost as good as homemade pasta, so unless you want to spend a long time making your own, you can be confident about achieving good results with the store-bought equivalent.
The same applies to the sauce, the filling, and the other ingredients you use. A pinch of ground nutmeg will taste almost the same in the finished dish as fresh nutmeg which you have grated yourself. If you are a busy parent or hard at work all day, nobody will care about your cooking shortcuts.
Make Food Your Family Loves
There is no reason why you cannot take shortcuts if you need to. You know better than anyone else what your family likes and if you like the American idea of topping your lasagna recipe with handfuls of grated cheese or using frozen spinach instead of preparing your own, then by all means feel free to do just that. One thing is very clear, and that is homemade lasagna, no matter which recipe you follow or what adaptations you choose to make, will always be much nicer, fresher and more memorable than boxed frozen lasagna you can buy in the store.
