Lasagne, that most wonderful of pasta dishes, has been attributed to many geographical regions in Italy. Indeed not only does the regional recipe vary, but it's near impossible to find two different households that produce identical lasagne. This is a common phenomenon in Italy where food is simple and most recipes come handed down from family to family, as opposed to nationally published cookbooks. I'm not saying that there is no such thing in Italy, but what Italian cook, who is making the recipe that his great great grandmother has passed down the family tree, is going to have a cookbook telling him he's doing it wrong?

Lasagne has come to represent myriad dishes which are comprised of layers of pasta seperated by other ingredients, almost always cheese playing a heavy part.

Lasagne can fall into that category of food that does not come from the country people think it comes from. It's one of the oldest pasta dishes known in Italy, and food historians have linked it's origins to Greece. Lasagne is similar to some greek savory dishes featuring cheese and phyllo dough (like spanakopita). It's easy to see the logical progression in dishes like these.

Cream sauce or tomato sauce? meat or meatless? Spinach? Onion? Dried or Fresh Pasta? There are hundreds of recipes for great lagasna, and (trust me on this one) almost everyone claims that their's is the best. I have enjoyed lasagne in several guises and can say that in a contest like that there would be many ties. "Authentic" is not a word that can be applied to such a dish, as what is truly "authentic" is going to vary so much that you might as well give up, and just enjoy this most ancient of pasta dishes.