July 29 is National Lasagna Day. There are a variety of ways to cook lasagna. It can be vegetarian with all vegetables and cheese. It can even be made into a vegan dish by using vegan cheese. Then, any type of meat such as beef, turkey, or chicken can be used in the dish. Sometimes lasagna has Italian spices to make the dish taste Italian. Other times, it has spices that make it hot and spicy to make it taste like a southern dish. No matter what type of lasagna you enjoy, you should eat some lasagna on July 29 and make sure to celebrate by learning these top five facts about lasagna.
Lasagna Could’ve Meant Something Much Grosser than Food
Originally, in Italy, the word “lasagna” did not refer to a food (in fact, today, the food is still spelled “lasagne” as the plural form). The word “lasagna” referred to the pot in which the food was cooked. It is thought that the word “lasagna” for the pot is derived from the Greek word for “chamber pot. (10 Facts).
Original Lasagna Did Not Use Tomatoes
The earliest lasagna recipes known are dated from the thirteenth century. At that time, tomatoes were not known to Europeans. This means that they couldn’t have used them in the recipes. However, depending on the recipe, different cheeses are used (Some history facts).
Boiling Is No Longer Required to Make Lasagna
Boiling noodles used to be a requirement for making lasagna. No-boil noodles now exist. These are great as they soften in the oven, but it is absolutely necessary to make sure that there is a great quantity of sauce so the noodles get wet and cook while they are in the oven (Lasagna Cooking Tips).
Lasagna Can Be Made in the Dishwasher
Do you not have an oven or do you not have a working oven? You can make lasagna in the dish washer! All you have to do is put the ingredients together in a dish (either boils noodles or use the no boil noodles), cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil, then use the heated dry and sanitize cycle on your dishwasher to cook the lasagna (Lasagna).
Lasagna Is Prevalent in Pop Culture
The most well-known bit of lasagna lore is probably that the cat, Garfield, from the comic strip, has lasagna as his favorite food. It is also prevalent because the parody artist Weird Al Yankovic recorded a song called “Lasagna” that is a parody of “La Bamba” and that in an episode of Seinfeld called, “The Butter Shave,” Elaine gave the passenger next to her the nickname “Vegetable Lasagna (10 Facts).
Sources:
10 Facts About Lasagna. (n.d.). Health Diaries | Health and Nutrition Blogs, News, and Information. Retrieved July 19, 2012, from http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-facts-about-lasagna.html
Lasagna. (n.d.). Food Stuff. Retrieved July 19, 2012, from http://www.sxmrestaurant.com/foodstuff/foodstuff/Lasagna.html
Lasagna Cooking Tips. (n.d.). Great Cheese. Retrieved July 19, 2012, from http://www.greatcheese.com/lasagna/sorrento-tips.php
Some history facts about lasagna. (n.d.). Best lasagna recipes: italian, meat or spinach, seafood lasagna recipes. Retrieved July 19, 2012, from http://www.thelasagna.com/lasagnafacts.htm
