Neapolitan Carnival Lasagna
With Martedi Grasso (Fat Tuesday) rolling around, this can mean only one thing in Napoli —Lasagna! Neapolitan Carnevale Lasagna is not your average lasagna. It is a baroque beast that features at least five cuts and kinds of meat. There are also miniature meatballs and a ragù sauce. It is not for the faint hearted cook. And definitely not for the faint hearted eater.
In Napoli, we eat this treasured lasagna on Fat Tuesday before entering the 40 day Lenten season, which historically banned the consumption of meat. In fact, the word Carnevale comes from the Lantin Carne Levare, meaning to take away meat. Before abstaining from meat for this 40 day, Neapolitans enjoyed one final indulgence in the form of this rich lasagna. We call it Fat Tuesday for a reason after all.
This year Fat Tuesday is on February 25th so you still have plenty of time to prepare. Before embarking on this recipe, be advised that there are many steps and mis-en-place is essential. Keep organized in the kitchen and planning on spending at least four hours with the advanced preparation of your lasagna. You will be making the Neapolitan ragù and meatballs first. I suggest making this an event. Invite some friends over, enjoy a bottle of rosso. It will be your big (fat) night!
Serves 8 as a primo or 6 as a main dish
Ingredients
1 portion Neapolitan ragù sauce—recipe here
1 portion of meatballs rolled into miniature balls ½ inch circumference —recipe here (do not simmer in red sauce, we will fry in oil later)
1 liter corn oil for frying
1 lb. fresh lasagna noodles
½ lb. whole milk ricotta
½ lb. sliced fior di latte mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan
6 hard boiled eggs, sliced
¼ lb. thinly sliced Neapolitan or Genoa salami
Instructions
Make ragù the day before using our recipe here and bring to room temp before making lasagna
Roll meatballs (using our base recipe here) into balls measuring about ½ inch in circumference — you can use a melon baller to help gauge size
Heat corn oil in a cast iron skillet to 350 degrees F
Using a spider strainer, lower meatballs into oil, gently frying in batches until golden brown all around
Place fried meatballs on a paper towel lined plate and set aside
Bring a heavily salted pot of water to boil and add a squirt of olive oil
Boil fresh lasagna noodles until they rise to the surface
Drain over colander and set aside (be sure that they are not resting in one large clump or they will stick together, separate into individual noodles on a plate)
Remove pork ribs from ragù and reserve for other use (we serve as a secondo piatto after the lasagna)
Mix ricotta into ragù
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Ladle a layer of ragù onto the bottom of a casserole dish (we use a Williams Sonoma 13 1/2" x 9 1/2" x 3" high dish)
Place lasagna noodles over ragù and cover with another layer of ragù
Top with meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, mozzarella, parmesan and salami
Repeat to complete five layers of lasagna
Top the final lasagna layer with ragù, meatballs and parmesan
Bake for 30 minutes until gently crispy on top
Rest the lasagna 20 minutes before cutting—this will ensure that each serving of lasagna remains compact and that the flavor seeps into noodles before escaping out the sides
