Lasagna Pie

Lasagna pie is a comforting combination of mafaldine noodles, meat sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese that’s baked in a skillet until golden, bubbly, and crisp. A bit of a riff on traditional Italian-American lasagna, but with less fuss and it’s way easier to make!

 

Our family’s favorite part of an Italian-American lasagna is the crispy curly edges of the noodles. 

But when making a full lasagna, there are limited amounts of the curly edges, and that scarcity is what inspired this lasagna pie or lasagna casserole.

We used mafaldine noodles here because they closely resemble the curly edges of lasagna noodles and guarantee that with each bite, you’ll get a crisp, curly noodle!

Lasagna pie is great for weeknights because it’s easier than traditional lasagna, and pairs well with a sauteed green veggie like spinach or broccoli rabe.

How to make it

1. Dice one medium onion and slice 5 cloves of garlic.  Heat a large pot or deep pan to medium and add 1/4 cup of olive oil and the onions, sauteeing for 4-5 minutes or until soft.  
2. Add 1 pound of ground chuck and one pound of ground pork and turn the heat up to medium-high.

3. While the meat cooks a lot of fat will rise in the pan.  Remove some of the fat with a spoon. Note: Depending on how much fat is in the meat, this will be dictated by the brand/cuts used, you will have more or less fat than shown above.  I removed about 1/3 of a cup’s worth of fat and left the remaining fat in the pan.  Fat is flavor but too much fat is just that.  Too much!
4. Allow the meat to continue to brown and cook through.  You can use a meat masher or wooden spoon to help break up the meat.  Once the meat is cooked through, add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or until fragrant, then add a 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds more.
5. Add 1/2 cup of dry white wine and cook for 2 minutes or until the alcohol smell dissipates and the wine reduces.  Add two 28-ounce cans of tomatoes (crushed, hand-crushed, or blender-pulsed are all fine) and mix well.
6. Let the sauce simmer for at least 30 minutes, then taste test and adjust salt and pepper as needed.  Add roughly 5 basil leaves to the sauce.  Note: you can chop the basil leaves, or keep them whole if you prefer.  Keeping them whole will allow you to remove them from the sauce prior to mixing with the noodles.  Don’t worry, more chopped basil will be mixed in later.

7. Preheat the oven to 375 and set a rack on the middle level and one near the top.  Grate 3/4 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese, and shred 3 cups of block mozzarella. Chop 3 tablespoons of fresh basil and mince 3 tablespoons of flat-leaf Italian parsley.  Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook 1 pound of mafaldine until 2 minutes less than al dente.  In a large bowl, beat together 3 eggs, then add 1 cup ricotta, the grated Pecorino, 1 teaspoon of coarse cracked black pepper, the basil, and parsley, and mix until combined.
8. Add 4 cups of the meat sauce to the ricotta mixture and mix once more.
9. Drain the pasta and add to the bowl along with 2 cups of the shredded mozzarella and mix well. 
10. Heat a 12-inch ovenproof, or cast iron pan, to medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil, spreading it to coat the whole pan. 

11. Add the pasta mixture to the pan and cook for 1 minute without stirring, then turn off the heat.  Top with the remaining mozzarella and bake for 12 minutes in the center of the oven, or until the lasagna pie is set. For a browner top, move the pan to the top rack and broil for 2-3 additional minutes, but watch carefully to prevent burning.
12. Let the pie sit for 5-10 minutes before removing from the pan and cutting into pie slices.  Serve each slice with extra meat sauce and grated Pecorino Romano.  Enjoy!  Note: Since this is basically a pasta frittata you can remove the whole lasagne pie from the pan for a nice presentation and make it easier to cut.

Top tips

• Pasta shape. Mafaldine is a pasta shape that closely resembles the edges of curly lasagna which is why we used it here. It’s a wonderful shape, and traditionally served on St. Joseph’s Day with pasta con le sarde.  It’s one of the more obscure shapes, so if you can’t find it, feel free to use curly lasagna noodles that have been broken.
• Ricotta. Since this is a baked pasta and we want it to be moist, the ricotta doesn’t need to be drained overnight as it does with cheesecake. Any brand will be fine and you can give it a quick drain to remove any excess moisture if desired, but it’s not necessary.
• Height. As you can see, the mafaldine noodles are piled high and hang every so slightly over the edge of the pan.  Doing this allows for maximum crispiness on those curly noodles!
• Cooking time. The time in the oven will vary depending on your oven but should be around 12 minutes.  If you want a browner top, it can be broiled for 2-3 minutes at the end, but be sure to watch carefully to prevent burning.
• Rest time. As with our white spaghetti pie, we recommend waiting at least 5-10 minutes before slicing and serving this lasagna pie or casserole.

More baked pasta recipes

Here are a few more of our favorite comforting and cozy baked pasta recipes.  We hope you enjoy!

• Baked ziti with tiny meatballs – classic baked ziti with the addition of tiny meatballs for a fun twist!
• Pasta al forno – baked rigatoni with mozzarella and meat sauce.
• Stuffed shells – with spinach and ricotta.

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