Lasagna is defined by its layers. You can find recipes that pile the noodles, meat sauce, and béchamel or ricotta up in many as 11 or more tiers. According to chef Jasper J. Mirabile Jr., cookbook author and owner of Jasper’s Restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, you needn’t go that far. In his exclusive conversation with Chowhound, chef Mirabile says, “Lasagna should be five to seven layers.” His recipe also differs from most in how he proportions the noodles and sauces.

Some lasagna recipes repeat the sequence of noodles, béchamel, and meat sauce for their layers. Chef Mirabile’s lasagna pattern puts noodles in between each saucy layer and uses fewer of those layers overall. “[Begin] with the [Bolognese] sauce… then pasta… then béchamel sauce… then pasta… then Bolognese sauce, and then pasta. [Top] with a mixture of Bolognese and béchamel,” he says. This gives your lasagna a firmer texture that emphasizes the bite of the noodles and helps the baked pasta holds its structure better. No matter what, though, chef Mirabile recommends always starting with a ladle of ragù on the bottom of your baking dish to prevent the noodles from sticking and proceed from there.

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The Key To A Balanced Lasagna

Proper lasagna isn’t just about how many layers you have; you should also keep the layers even and balanced. “The best way to ensure that the lasagna layers are balanced would be [to use] equal portions of the béchamel sauce and, if you would like, grated cheese in between the layers,” says chef Jasper J. Mirabile Jr. The béchamel and cheese bring a creamy texture to the noodles and meaty sauce, and this is essential to the confluence of textures known and loved in lasagna.

Chef Mirabile also recommends adding other, firmer ingredients between the sauce and noodles, such as meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, or mozzarella slices. These additions are common in many Italian lasagnas and help add body to the dish. If you prefer to use a ricotta spread in place of the classic béchamel, chef Mirabile has another tip to help with structure and balance: “I also add eggs to my ricotta cheese, usually two per pound, and it makes it so fluffy, like a soufflé,” he says.

Read the original article on Chowhound.