What to use instead of lasagne
A sheet is a layer. It needs a sauce that spreads flat and bakes: ragu, bechamel, tomato, ricotta. Nothing that has to cling.
The closest swap: lasagnette
Strips of the same sheet.
Lasagne is sheets, 150 to 250 mm long, 30 to 45 minutes in the pot. Lasagnette sits in the ribbons family and cooks in 8 to 12 minutes. Match the cook time first. A swap that is right in shape and wrong in time still ends up wrong on the plate.
Every swap for lasagne, ranked
A substitute must behave the same way with the sauce you are making. The ones marked as chosen are hand-picked. The rest score on family, cavity, surface, size, and shared sauces.
- 1
Lasagnette
Ribbons · All of Italy
Strips of the same sheet (chosen)
- 2
Fazzoletti
Sheets · Liguria
Smaller fresh squares (chosen)
- 3
Cannelloni
Tubes · Campania
Roll the sheet instead of layering it (chosen)
- 4
Testaroli
Sheets · Tuscany
Same family, also solid, shares 1 sauce
- 5
Farfalle
Short shapes · Lombardy
Also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 6
Mafaldine
Ribbons · Campania
Also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 7
Pappardelle
Ribbons · Tuscany
Also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 8
Tagliatelle
Ribbons · Emilia-Romagna
Also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
Match the sauce, not the look
Lasagne is listed against 5 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for baked (al forno): Pasta finished in the oven with sauce and cheese, or stuffed and baked. It needs a sturdy shape that survives twice cooking.
- Best pasta for ragu alla bolognese: A slow-cooked minced beef and pork sauce with soffritto, wine, milk, and a little tomato. Tagliatelle, never spaghetti, in Bologna.
- Best pasta for ragu napoletano: Whole cuts of meat braised for hours in tomato. The sauce dresses the pasta; the meat is the second course. Ziti and paccheri.
- Best pasta for cream sauce: Panna with cheese, mushrooms, ham, or peas. Heavy and clinging. Ridges and cups keep it on the pasta.
- Best pasta for pesto alla genovese: Basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan, pecorino, olive oil. Raw and oily. Trofie and trenette are the Ligurian pairings.
Side by side
The measured difference between lasagne and each swap.