Lasagna or Lasagne? One Sheet or Many
Lasagna is a baked pasta dish made in layers. In Italian the singular is one sheet of pasta and the plural is the dish.
Lasagna is a dish of flat pasta sheets layered with sauce and cheese and baked. Italian is strict about the number: *lasagna* is one sheet, *lasagne* is more than one, so the dish is properly plural. British menus follow the Italian and write lasagne; American ones write lasagna.
- A baked layered pasta dish. *Vegetable lasagna.*
- A sheet of flat pasta. *Cook the lasagne sheets first.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun (US) | lasagna | A tray of lasagna. |
| Noun (UK) | lasagne | Spinach lasagne. |
| Related | ragĂč | A slow ragĂč. |
| Related | béchamel | White béchamel sauce. |
| Related | pasta al forno | Baked pasta dishes. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The lasagne needs to rest before cutting.Otherwise the layers slide.
- She makes lasagna with a white sauce.BĂ©chamel is standard in Bologna.
- Buy fresh lasagne sheets if you can.Sheets is the countable form.
What goes in a classic version
- RagĂč â a slow-cooked meat sauce
- BĂ©chamel â milk thickened with butter and flour
- Parmigiano Reggiano â grated between the layers
- Pasta sheets â fresh or dried
- Resting time â twenty minutes out of the oven before serving
From Italian *lasagna*, from Latin *lasanum*, a cooking pot, from Greek *lasanon*. The name of the vessel became the name of what was cooked in it.
Lasagna or lasagne?
Both are correct in English. Lasagne is the Italian plural and the usual British spelling; lasagna is standard in America.
Should lasagne rest before serving?
Yes. Fifteen to twenty minutes lets the layers set so a slice holds its shape.