If you’ve been in my orbit in any way during the last five years, there’s a good chance you’ve heard me repeat– INSIST, even– that I am not a red sauce gal.
Do I understand the draw of a hearty spaghetti bolognese? Yes, yes I do. I’m also not immune to the joys of a simple pomodoro, and honestly, I adore a vodka sauce (although I barely count it in the red sauce category because it’s really a creamy sauce with tomatoey vibes, but we can save this discussion for another time). Nine times out of ten, I go for a butter, oil, or cream-based sauce. And preemptively: yes, pesto is green, but it sits firmly in the oil-based sauce category. Are there other types of sauces? Probably. But in my world and for the purpose of this discussion, we are viewing sauce as a dichotomy: “red sauce” and “other.”
While we’re getting candid with each other, I have several other things I’d like to get off my chest. For starters, I have never made a lasagna before. Weird thing to admit for someone who’s about to share a lasagna recipe with you, right? But in a sense, that’s what makes me the perfect person to share *this* particular recipe because I am not bound to nor do I have any allegiance towards tradition when it comes to this layered pasta bake. To me, a lasagna simply maintains three basic principles: there must be a saucy layer, there must be a cheesy layer, and these layers must be separated by lasagna noodles. That’s it.
Admission number two: I used pre-shredded mozzarella cheese in this recipe. Does this even need to be an admission? Probably not but somewhere in the food universe a cheese elitist is groaning. If you’re a better person than me or you feel like getting an arm workout in you can buy a block of mozzarella and grate it yourself but shredded mozzarella melts just and there’s no huge difference to me. Live your life.
ANYWAYS…
This lasagna is based on one of our most popular dishes at Petite Pasta Joint: the spiced white ragu (which we serve with Raffetto’s absolutely stunning rosemary pasta). It’s herbaceous, well-spiced, super savory and extremely amenable: we’ve made it with everything from mushrooms to veal. I distilled the components of the spiced white ragu and rosemary pasta down to a layer-able mushroom lasagna. It’s herby, cheesy, creamy and delicious– red sauce, who?
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