Classic Sicilian Lasagna Recipe

We're kicking up Garfield's favorite meal with Genoa salami and hard-boiled eggs, the secret ingredients in this classic Sicilian lasagna. Pure comfort food and happiness in layers!

Oven-ready lasagna noodles speed up the process and you can also boil eggs and make the ragù Bolognese sauce (meat sauce) in advance.

I can never get enough of Sicilian lasagna with eggs. But when I'm short on time, I make this shortcut ravioli lasagna, or to switch it up, I go for spicy sausage lasagna-inspired slab pie.

It is not without reason that this is one of the most popular dishes all over the planet and one of the symbols of Italian cuisine.

It’s easy to keep your freezer stocked with homemade lasagna for busy weeknights.

📝 NOTE: Looking for the FULL recipe to print? You can find it below in the recipe card!

There are nine provinces in Sicily, and each has foods typical to the area. So their lasagna recipes vary too.

You can find versions with peas and other vegetables like onions, carrots, and celery.

A coworker taught me this Sicilian-style lasagna recipe when I lived in Germany. She was born in Sicily so it's as authentic as it gets.

I just don't know which Sicilian province it comes from because I never asked and we lost touch after moving abroad!

📃 Why it Works

• There are four different kinds of cheese in this recipe, which eliminates the need for béchamel sauce, and the middle layer replaces the use of Italian sausage.
• The recipe is quick to prep.
• There are fewer pans to wash after prepping this meal.
• This dish freezes well uncooked and cooked and doesn’t taste like leftovers at all.

Each layer has to be filled with devotion; otherwise, lasagna is not the queen of pasta, but just a sticky pasta dish.

Did you know the term "lagana" was used in Roman times and referred to square or rectangular-shaped thin wheat-flour dough sheets baked or fire-cooked?

The introduction of egg in the dough, cheese, and tomatoes came centuries later.

🛒 Ingredients and Notes

• Marinara sauce: Use your favorite brand's pasta or Marinara sauce, or make your own. I'm fortunate to know Mr. Pellegrino, who makes the best authentic Italian tomato sauce (pictured in ingredients above), but we also like Rao's Tomato Basil Marinara.
• Another option is to use plain tomato sauce; however, you'll need to add onions, basil, oregano, and other spices to it as it is rather plain.
• Lasagna noodles: Oven-ready or no-boil noodle sheets cut down on prep time, but if you have time and don't mind boiling, you can use regular noodle sheets.
• Ground beef: I always use lean (90/10). Nobody likes their food sitting in a pool of fat.
• Genoa salami: You can use any type of salami such as capocollo, sopressatta, hard salami, and even prosciutto.
• Cheeses: I recommend small curd cottage cheese. You can use reduced-fat for cottage and ricotta, although ricotta tends to be watery if not full-fat. Use good quality cheeses such as Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano (or parmesan and romano cheese in the US).

🔪 Instructions

Steps 1 & 2

1 - Make the meat sauce: Brown the meat, add Marinara sauce, and season with salt and pepper. 

2 - Make the spinach layer: Sauté the minced garlic, add chopped spinach and cook until just wilted. 

Steps 3 & 4

3 - Prep the cheese mixture: Mix shredded mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, egg, and parsley until blended. 

4 - Assemble: Spread some meat sauce onto the bottom of the baking pan. Layer with oven-ready noodles, cheese mixture, and more meat sauce. Repeat the layer.

Steps 5 & 6

5 - Middle layer: Add cottage cheese on top of noodles and layer with spinach, Genoa salami, hard-boiled eggs, fresh mozzarella, and meat sauce.

6 - Finish: Spread the remainder of the cheese mixture and meat sauce over the top layer of noodles and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella and parmesan. Bake.

• For best results, use full-fat cheeses.
• There is no bechamel sauce in this recipe, but you can add it if you prefer.
• Use a pan at least 2½ inches deep.
• The no-boil noodles will absorb most of the sauce. If you prefer noodles drenched in sauce, boil them first or add more marinara to the meat mixture (about 8-12 oz.).
• To prevent the sauce from boiling over and burning in the oven, causing it to smoke, place the pan on a large foil-covered cookie sheet.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

✍ Reviews

"This is hands down the best recipe I've ever made!! My family still talks about it! It's the only reason I'm excited for cold weather!" - Deanne via Facebook

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Liked this recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section. Your feedback is always appreciated! Stay in touch through Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for my email list below too!

Classic Sicilian Lasagna Recipe

By Jas

The surprise is in the middle layer: spinach, hard-boiled eggs, and Italian Genoa salami. It puts this Sicilian lasagna above any other.

4.7 from 14 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Yields 8 Servings

Calories 691 kcal

EQUIPMENT

• cast-iron or nonstick skillet
• lasagna pan
• Mixing bowl
• saucepan

Ingredients

1x2x3x

US Customary - Metric

For the Meat Sauce

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 1 pound ground beef, best a mixture of pork and beef
• ▢ 1 24 oz. jar Marinara sauce, or more if you like extra sauce
• ▢ 1 cup water
• ▢ Salt and pepper

For the Spinach Layer

• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 4 cups spinach, chopped
• ▢ 1 garlic clove, minced

For the Cheese Mixture

• ▢ 3 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
• ▢ 1 16 oz. container ricotta cheese
• ▢ ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano or pecorino Romano cheese, divided
• ▢ 1 egg, beaten
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped

You will also need:

• ▢ 1 cup cottage cheese
• ▢ 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• ▢ 1 cup chopped Genoa salami, ca. 4 oz.
• ▢ 8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced
• ▢ 12 oven-ready lasagna noodles

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Instructions

Meat Sauce

• In a large cast-iron or non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 pound ground meat and brown, breaking down pieces with a wooden spoon, until meat is no longer pink.
• Drain the fat and stir in 24 oz. of marinara sauce. Add 1 cup water to the empty sauce jar; cover with a lid and shake well. Toss the liquid with the meat mixture; season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.

Spinach Layer

• In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add 1 minced garlic clove and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 4 cups of chopped spinach and heat through until just wilted. Set aside.

Cheese Mixture

• Meanwhile, mix 1 ½ cups of shredded mozzarella, 16 oz. Ricotta, ¼ cup of Parmigiano Reggiano, 1 beaten egg, and ¼ chopped fresh parsley until blended. Set aside.
• Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Assemble Lasagna

• Spread 1 cup of the meat sauce onto the bottom of the 13x9-inch baking pan. Top with a layer of 3 oven-ready lasagna noodles (don’t worry if they don’t cover the entire pan).
• Top the noodles with ⅓ of the cheese mixture and about 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat the same layer once again (3 noodles, ½ of the remaining cheese mixture, and 1 cup meat).
• For the third layer, top the noodles with 1 cup cottage cheese and spread with the wilted spinach, 1 cup chopped salami, 3 sliced hard-boiled eggs, and 8 oz. sliced fresh mozzarella. Add 1 cup of the meat sauce.
• Place another layer of noodles and cover with the remaining cheese mixture and remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 1 ½ cup shredded mozzarella and ¼ cup Parmigiano Reggiano).
• Cover the pan with foil greased with cooking spray (so that cheese doesn't stick to it). Bake 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 minutes. Before cutting, let stand 15 minutes.

Notes

• The noodles will most likely not cover the whole bottom of your baking pan. Have no fear: they will expand and fill up the pan by cooking.
• There is no bechamel sauce in this recipe, but you can add it if you prefer.
• Instead of slicing, you can chop the eggs and spread them evenly. 
• When you're spreading the meat sauce, make sure to place some on the noodle outside edges too. It's easy to forget and dump everything in the middle.
• The no-boil noodles will absorb most of the sauce. If you prefer noodles drenched in sauce, boil them first or add more marinara to the meat mixture (about 8-12 oz.).
• If your pan is a bit shallow, and you think the cheese will stick to the foil, insert toothpicks over your lasagna and rest the large piece of foil onto them, making sure to tuck the foil around the pan.
• To prevent the sauce from boiling over and burning in the oven, causing it to smoke, place the pan on a large foil-covered cookie sheet.
  * This will only happen if your pan is shallow (less than 2½-inches).
• Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used.

 

Storage:

• Keep leftover cooked lasagna covered and refrigerated for up to 3-5 days or freeze for no more than three months. 
• Freeze uncooked, assembled lasagna in a freezer-to-oven safe container for up to one month. 

Nutrition

Calories: 691kcal (35%) | Carbohydrates: 35g (12%) | Protein: 43g (86%) | Fat: 41g (63%) | Saturated Fat: 18g (90%) | Cholesterol: 206mg (69%) | Sodium: 1079mg (45%) | Potassium: 512mg (15%) | Fiber: 2g (8%) | Sugar: 3g (3%) | Vitamin A: 2253IU (45%) | Vitamin C: 7mg (8%) | Calcium: 502mg (50%) | Iron: 3mg (17%)

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NOTE: This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated in January of 2020 for photos and content.