Artichoke lasagne belongs to the long list of dishes that have graced my family’s Sunday lunch and a variety of other occasions such as, for example, Easter lunch or Easter Monday, above all, if it fell early, that is, in March, like this year.
Grandma used to execute the recipe in her own way, cooking the artichokes with lots of parsley and deglazing with white wine and without using garlic since she did not like to taste it in lasagna. And since the palate was educated in that way, needless to say, out of habit, I don’t use it in this preparation either.
That recipe is a bit Bolognese without really being so. I want to say that it is a classic dish of Italian cuisine. But it belongs to the Bolognese food tradition because it is widespread and widely appreciated. Each home cook has a family recipe. Of course, under the two Towers, some used the violet artichoke, now a Slow Food presidium.
A late spring variety that is widespread in the hills south of Bologna and nearby Romagna. Today, processed, you can find it year-round. And speaking of frozen products, this lasagna also comes well with the artichokes you find already sliced in the frozen section of your local store.
Indeed, preparing the recipe will take half an hour if you use pasta sheets and béchamel sauce ready-made and frozen artichokes.
If this is the right thing for you, tie your apron! Only you can know and establish your kitchen time.
The time the kitchen needs, for me
As for me, when I cooked this artichoke lasagne, I chose to organize my time in the kitchen.
Cooking a Sunday lunch dish takes time. And just time and planning are among the most significant elements in cooking and serving a tasty dish. A dish that will create the right atmosphere by mixing food and talk, memories, and laughter. And by that, I mean essential ingredients for a successful lunch.
So, I was saying time and planning.
In Italy, another component of a successful meal is tradition, which in the home kitchens of our country has, since time immemorial, been the banner of good cooking. Having planned for me means entering the kitchen after choosing a menu based on a couple of traditional dishes and buying the ingredients I will need.
At this point, I tie up my apron and start cooking. In this case, I started by making the pasta sheet rolled out on the cutting board with a rolling pin (for a 5-layer artichoke lasagne, you need two eggs and 200 g of flour). Then I prepared the béchamel sauce. I melt the butter, add the flour, wait until I smell the scent of toasted flour and nutmeg, and start adding the milk until I see a smooth and inviting béchamel. Now, I should only preheat the oven while assembling the ingredients for creating my lasagna baking tray, foretasting the scent that will soon flood the kitchen.
After a lot of work, I observe my kitchen project. It has taken shape.
It has a smell and a texture that makes it real, and I immediately forget my tiredness.
I usually cook on the days before lunch since that too takes time: there is a table to set, dishes to dust, wine and flowers to buy.
It is precisely that busy time before lunch that reminds me how much care there has been in my life.
And it comforts me to know I care for people, family, and friends alike, as I have seen doing.
I roll out pasta dough on the cutting board. And I share generous portions of pasta with tons of love.
Buona cucina, Monica
For making:
- besciamella
- basic recipe for pasta dough ( 4 servings: 2 eggs; 200 g of 00 flour)
More lasagne recipes
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Artichoke lasagne
Equipment
- 1 baking pan suitable for the size of your pasta dough rectangles
Ingredients
- 1 large bowl full of cold water
- 1 lemon
- 6 medium artichokes, about 800 g/1 kg or 3 bags of frozen artichokes, 100 g each
- 30 g of olive oil
- 2 g of fine salt
- 10 g of fresh parsley
- 100 ml of white wine
- 250 g of fresh egg pasta cut into rectangles or 5 ready-made rectangles
- 500 g of béchamel sauce
- 120 g of grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Squeeze the juice of the lemon into the water. Place the bowl next to you as you clean the artichokes.
- First, separate the stem from the artichoke. Peel the stems by removing the outermost part with a knife or potato peeler, cut them into thin slices, and place them in the bowl of water and lemon. Remove the outer leaves of the artichoke and then cut the artichokes in half lengthwise. With a small knife, remove the central barb, if there is any, and cut again into thin slices. Hand dip them in water acidulated with lemon.
- In a large frying pan, put a round of oil and the parsley, leaves, and stems, pour in the artichokes, and wilt them for a minute before seasoning with salt. Stir and cook for another minute.
- Add 300 ml water and cook the artichokes over medium-low heat until the water has dried or the artichokes are soft. If you needed, add more water.
- Raise the stove flame and deglaze with white wine while stirring. Turn off the stove, remove the parsley, and let cool.
- Preheat the oven to 180C degrees (356F).
- On the bottom of the baking dish, put a spoonful of béchamel sauce and spread it out, then arrange a rectangular sheet of pasta, spread the béchamel sauce on the sheet, add some artichokes, distributing them so that they are not overlapping or too many, sprinkle with 20 g of Parmesan cheese and repeat until all the ingredients are ended.
- Finish by covering the last sheet with an even but not too high layer of béchamel sauce, scatter a few artichokes, and the last 20 g of grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the edges of the lasagna and artichokes turn golden brown.
- Let the lasagna rest for a few minutes before serving.
Food tips
- If you want, add a clove of garlic while cooking the artichokes. Remove it after cooking the artichokes.
- Optional, finely chopped 100 g of bacon and distribute it between layers.
- If you can, make the lasagna a day in advance. Its taste will be better.
- Reheat in the oven, covering the pan with aluminum foil so the lasagna does not dry.
- You can store and keep it in the freezer (for 15 days).
