The Baking Trick Giada De Laurentiis Swears By For A Crispy Lasagna
Lasagna calls a few adjectives to mind: Cheesy, saucy, gooey, and — ideally — crispy. Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis understands the importance of a crisp lasagna texture all too well. In a video posted to her TikTok, she poses the question: "Who doesn't like the crispy part of a lasagna?" But rather than merely asking her viewers, De Laurentiis offers a solution that capitalizes on that beloved consistency. Her trick has nothing to do with what goes into a lasagna recipe but everything to do with how — and in what — that lasagna gets cooked.
De Laurentiis — who's known for adding butter to her lasagna – recommends yet another pasta trick in the form of a sheet pan. She singles out a thin sheet pan as the ideal vessel for an ultra-crispy lasagna. Because the pan is thin yet long, it maximizes the crispy bits of the dish. However, due to the pan's parameters, De Laurentiis opts not to layer her noodles. Instead, she mixes them directly with her sauce and cheese, resulting in a quick — yet crispy — recipe. Once mixed together, she spreads her lasagna over her sheet pan as though making a tray of brownies.
As for how, exactly, to pull off a sheet tray-made lasagna, De Laurentiis keeps her recipe simple. That said, any lasagna variation is fair game — so long as you're okay with mixed noodles in lieu of layers.
Use a sheet pan across your favorite lasagna recipes
You can't go wrong with a classic lasagna bolognese, but if you prefer the top layer to everything that comes beneath, why not make your entire tray crispy? De Laurentiis adapts a standard lasagna recipe by preparing each part of the recipe as normal. She makes a mixture of spinach and ricotta, cooks her noodles, and simmers a sauce with sausage and onion. Instead of layering those ingredients, however, she combines them — which you can do with all of your favorite lasagna recipes.
@giadadelaurentiis Lovers of crispy lasagna edges, this Sheet Pan Lasagna is for u! Recipe on @thegiadzy
For instance, a meatless lasagna works well with this all-in approach, as does a more classic variation that forgoes spinach altogether. You can also use your favorite vegetables without having to worry about your lasagna turning soggy. Eggplant and zucchini, for example, taste delicious, but you run the risk of a watered-down lasagna. They're therefore the perfect additions to a layerless lasagna, as the sheet pan will allow them to crisp up.
None of this is to say that you have to bypass lasagna's trademark layers for maximum crispiness. Instead, you can embrace other strategies, like dangling noodles over the side of the pan to enhance your lasagna's texture. De Laurentiis' trick, however, requires no extra legwork — just a sheet pan.