# Lasagne verdi alla bolognese

Bologna's green lasagne. Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. Pasta & Rice (Primi & Risotti).

> Bologna's green lasagne: spinach egg pasta layered at least six times with ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano Reggiano, as the Accademia Italiana della Cucina deposited it in 2003.

- Level of proof: Deposited recipe (Ricetta depositata). An official recipe filed with an Italian Chamber of Commerce or a notary by a recognised culinary body.
- Sources checked: 2026-10-26
- Published: 2026-10-26
- Page: https://nonnario.com/recipes/lasagne-alla-bolognese/

## In short

- A green egg pasta: 700 g of 00 flour, 3 eggs and 350 g of cooked, squeezed spinach.
- At least six layers of pasta, béchamel, ragù alla bolognese, butter and plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano.
- No ricotta, no mozzarella, no hard-boiled eggs.
- Baked at 180 °C for 25–30 minutes, then rested for 5 minutes before serving.

Also called: lasagne alla bolognese, lasagna alla bolognese, green lasagne.

## Where it comes from

Lasagne verdi are Bologna's great baked pasta: sheets of egg pasta coloured green with spinach, layered with ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano Reggiano. In 2003 the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, through its Bologna San Luca delegation, fixed the recipe and deposited it with the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna.

The deposited text sets out the ingredients and the method, down to the size of the dish and the number of layers. It has no ricotta, no mozzarella and no hard-boiled eggs. Its ragù is the classic Bolognese one; here it is our recipe, from the Accademia's 2023 deposit, which replaced the 1982 text that was current in 2003.

- Defined by: Accademia Italiana della Cucina, Bologna San Luca delegation
- Reference: Recipe deposited with the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna, 2003

## Sources

- [Bologna Welcome: lasagne verdi alla bolognese, the recipe deposited by the Accademia Italiana della Cucina (Italian)](https://www.bolognawelcome.com/it/altro/ricette-e-prodotti-tipici/lasagne-verdi-alla-bolognese)
- [Do Eat Better (Bologna food tours): where to eat lasagne alla bolognese, with a note on the deposited recipe (Italian)](https://doeatbetterexperience.com/it/blog/dove-mangiare-lasagne-alla-bolognese-bologna/)

## Ingredients

For 8 servings, in metric units.

### For the green pasta

- 700 g soft wheat flour, tipo 00
- 3 fresh eggs
- 350 g spinach, boiled, squeezed dry and finely chopped (weighed after squeezing: from about 1–1.2 kg fresh, as bought)

### For the béchamel

- 100 g butter
- 100 g soft wheat flour, tipo 00
- 1 l fresh whole milk
- fine salt
- nutmeg, freshly grated

### To assemble

- 1 kg ragù alla bolognese (made the day before; about one and a half times its recipe)
- 400 g Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
- 100 g butter (for the dish and the layers)
- coarse salt (for the pasta water)

## Equipment

- Large wooden board and a long rolling pin, or a pasta machine
- Large pot, a slotted spoon and a bowl of cold water
- Clean white cotton or linen cloths
- Saucepan and a whisk, for the béchamel
- Rectangular oven dish about 25 cm × 35 cm, at least 6 cm deep
- A toothpick

## Method

Hands-on 1 h 41 min, cooking 35 min, resting at least 35 min.

Make the ragù the day before. On the day, allow about 3 hours: 30 minutes for the spinach and the dough, 30 minutes of rest, about 40 minutes to roll, cut and cook the sheets, 15 for the béchamel, then assembling, 25–30 minutes in the oven and 5 minutes of rest.

### The day before: the ragù

1. **Make the ragù**. The day before, make about one and a half times the ragù alla bolognese recipe and weigh out 1 kg; keep it in the fridge. Before assembling, reheat it gently, stirring, until it is hot, and keep the béchamel warm too.

### The green pasta

2. **Prepare the spinach** (Hands-on 15 min). Start from about 1 kg–1.2 kg of fresh spinach, as bought. Wash it, boil it for 2–3 minutes in salted water, drain it and let it cool. Squeeze it in your hands, then in a cloth, until no more water comes out, and chop it as finely as you can. Weigh out 350 g after squeezing.
   Check: A dry, dense green paste: pressed between your fingers, no water runs out.
3. **Make the dough** (Hands-on 20 min). Heap the flour on the board and make a wide well. Put the eggs and the spinach in it, beat them together with a fork, and draw in the flour little by little until the mixture is too stiff to stir. Then knead with the heel of your hand for about 15 minutes.
   Check: Smooth, firm and evenly green, with no streaks: add a spoonful of flour if it sticks.
4. **Rest the dough** (Rest 30 min). Wrap the dough in film or cover it with an upturned bowl, and leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes.
5. **Roll the sheets** (Hands-on 15–20 min). Divide the dough into four pieces and roll them out one at a time, keeping the others covered, into sheets about 1 mm thick.
   Check: An even thickness all over, with no thin spots that would tear in the water.
6. **Cut the rectangles** (Hands-on 5 min; follows the official text). Cut the sheets into rectangles of about 15 cm × 10 cm.
   Tip: With practice, cut them a little smaller than the dish, so each layer needs fewer pieces.

### The béchamel

7. **Make the béchamel** (Hands-on 15 min; heat: medium-low). Warm the milk. In a saucepan, melt 100 g of butter, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes without letting it colour. Pour in the warm milk a little at a time, whisking, then simmer gently for about 10 minutes, stirring, until it coats the back of a spoon. Season with salt and a little grated nutmeg.
   Check: Smooth and creamy, with no lumps, thick enough to coat a spoon.

### Cooking the sheets

8. **Boil the sheets** (Cooking 10–15 min; heat: high, a vigorous boil; follows the official text). Bring a large pot, three-quarters full of salted water, to a vigorous boil. Cook the rectangles a few at a time and lift each out with the slotted spoon as soon as it floats.
9. **Cool and dry them** (Hands-on 10 min; follows the official text). Dip each sheet briefly in the cold water, then lay it flat on a clean white cotton or linen cloth to dry, not touching the next.

### Assembling and baking

10. **Start the dish** (Hands-on 3 min; follows the official text). Heat the oven to 180 °C. Butter the bottom of the dish and spread a few spoonfuls each of ragù and béchamel over it.
11. **Build the layers** (Hands-on 15–20 min; follows the official text). Cover with sheets of pasta, then spread a thin layer of béchamel, plenty of ragù, a few flakes of butter and a good handful of Parmigiano. Prick the pasta 3–4 times with the toothpick, so no air bubbles form. Repeat, keeping the layers even, until you have at least 6. The ragù should be plentiful but not excessive, and the béchamel creamy and spread thin.
   Check: At least 6 even layers, the dish nearly full.
   Tip: Before you start, set aside a few spoonfuls of ragù for the base and a little for the top, then divide the rest of the ragù and most of the Parmigiano by eye by the number of layers, so you do not run out.
12. **Finish the top** (Hands-on 3 min; follows the official text). Lay a last sheet of pasta and spread it with a little ragù mixed with a little béchamel. Dot it with butter, sprinkle with Parmigiano, and put a flake of butter in each corner of the dish.
13. **Bake** (Cooking 25–30 min; 180 °C; follows the official text). Bake in the preheated oven at 180 °C for 25–30 minutes.
   Check: Bubbling at the edges, the top golden and lightly crisp, and the centre hot: a knife pushed into the middle comes out hot, or a probe reads at least 75 °C. If the centre is not yet hot after 30 minutes, give it a few minutes more.
14. **Rest before serving** (Rest 5 min; follows the official text). Let the lasagne rest for 5 minutes before cutting it, so the layers set.

## Common mistakes

- Adding ricotta, mozzarella or hard-boiled eggs: the deposited recipe has none.
- Too few layers. The deposit asks for at least six.
- Cutting it straight from the oven: let it rest for 5 minutes so the layers set.

## Cooking it outside Italy

- The cheese is Parmigiano Reggiano PDO, as the recipe names it, not a generic ‘parmesan’.

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From Nonnario, the documented recipes of Italy: https://nonnario.com/recipes/lasagne-alla-bolognese/. Cite the recipe's page and the month its sources were checked; for the official text itself, cite the document listed under its sources.