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Best Lasagna in Bologna

Best Lasagna in Bologna

Where to eat the best Lasagne al ragù Bolognese, the most famous regional dish filled with fresh genuine ingredients and done from homemade pasta sfoglia in 5 restaurants of Bologna city centre.

Few little secrets for a high-quality lasagna
How to recognize a good-quality lasagna?
Well, like most of the Italian traditional dishes, everything stays in the ingredients:
– green dough and pasta worked with the rolling pin
– fresh homemade besciamella cream
– triplo concentrato di pomodoro (the one and only tomato concentrate for ragù)
– high quality Parmigiano cheese
– homemade ragù (cooked for min 2-3hours)

1- Osteria Santa Caterina, Via Santa Caterina 43/A

Have you ever dreamt of having lunch under a portico of Bologna? In this nice restaurant, you can.
Dishes on the menu and boards of cured meat and cheese are designed to be matched with specific wines. Indeed, the restaurant has a large collection in its cellar and enhances the regional ones together with more than 40 champagne wines from France.
And this is not by chance: Lorenzo (the co-owner) is an experienced butcher who has run together a very renowned delicatessen in the city. Stefano (the other owner) is a Oste (Innkeeper), who has had several premises: like Postiglione and Merlò. Finally, In 2008, Lorenzo and Stefano decided to open a restaurant together where the experience of one intersects with that of the other.
Lasagna of Osteria Santa Caterina is big and abounds in good ragù sauce. It is truly recommended to take the chance to pair it with a good glass of red wine. Just ask the owners!

Osteria Santa Caterina” Lasagne: 14 euros
Tip: The restaurant also owns a garden where to enjoy your meal in the summertime.

2- Diana, Via Volturno 5

Diana is a distinguished restaurant with a classic atmosphere where traditional regional food is served and Lasagne alla Bolognese couldn’t be missing.
Both my grandma and mum recommend it and at Diana, hard-to-be-found specialties are also served besides Lasagne. An example is “bollito” meat: the boiled, softe meat from which the original broth for tortellini is done. Diana is still a must where to go without fail to have a “back in time” dining experience.
Lasagne from Diana are tall and hold one of the secrets of the dish: its top’s crispiness makes it irregular in shape. No piece is going to be the same as the other.
Isn’t that the beauty of homemade food, after all? On Diana’s website, there’s also the recipe for Lasagne together with other “piatti della tradizione”.

Diana” Lasagne: 14 euros
Tip: Don’t miss the opportunity to try the meat of carrello dei bolliti, an old tradition which is slowly fading away in restaurants, staying stronger indoors only, in local families’ kitchens.

3 – Trattoria da me, Via S. Felice, 50

Trattoria da me has a refined cuisine that recalls the Sicilian origins of the chef-owner, who has refined the technique over the years and opened this original trattoria.
The menu includes traditional dishes and classic reinterpretations.
Zuppa Inglese is also served: a hard-to-be-found dessert based on pastry cream and sponge cake dipped in liqueurs like alchermes.
Lasagne is served on Sunday for lunch only, as tradition: families from Bologna gather all together around the table for Sunday lunch for years, and in the past decades, the most delicious dishes were the guest stars, like Lasagne.

Trattoria da me” Lasagne: 14 euros
Tip: Take the chance to buy just-made pasta from the restaurant pasta lab. The available types variate every day and are visible through the window-shop of the restaurant.

4 – Sfoglia Rina – Via Castiglione 5/b

Literally few meters away from Bologna two towers, Sfoglia Rina has become a must for locals and turists when it comes to enjoy a homemade pasta dish.
A table to have lunch or dinner at Sfoglia Rina is ofteen demanded and that’s because of the quality of the recipes of Rina, the original “sfoglina”* after which the place is called.
Lasagne from Sfoglia Rina is served in big portion and the fresh besciamella sauce, together with the other ingredients makes it a great dish. Green spinach dough is not missing.

Sfoglia Rina” Lasagne: 10,50 euros
Tip: Take the chance to buy just-made diffeerent pasta types to be cooked. Take in mind that the
restaurant doesn’t accept table bookings.
*In Bologna, sfoglina is the cook who works the dough with a rolling pin, creating pasta sfoglia.

5 – Ragū – Via Goito 9/b

Named after the one and only real sauce from Bologna, Ragū is a little local jewel, which I truly recommend as a native Bolognese citizen. It is in fact frequent for people to discover this little take-away (and to stay) restaurant thanks to direct recommendations of locals.
Their Ragù recipe is originally inspired by the grannie of the cooker, and a more “rich in flavour” version is also in the menu.
Lasagne from Ragù pass the quality check thanks to their green spinach-pasta dough, the aboundance of great ragù sauce (one of the best in town, cooked daily in their kitchen lab) and the crispy top (the last slice is sprinkled with lots of parmigiano cheese).
The place is young and original and respects the traditions. Their motto? “Bentornati a casa”(Welcome back home).

Ragū” Lasagne: 9 euros
Tip: Take the chance to take-away your lasagne with the eco-friendly box of Ragū and enjoy it somewhere in the city centre on a sunny day.