Most People Are Layering Lasagna Wrong — Try This Old Nonna Trick

Why your lasagna falls apart on the plate, and the way my mother layered it so it never does. It was decided before it ever saw the oven. If your lasagna slides into a landslide the moment you cut it, I promise you, it wasn't the heat or the pasta or the pan. The trouble happens in the first two minutes, while the layers are going in. Today I'll show you the order we built it in my mother's kitchen, the old way, so it holds its shape when the knife goes in and every stripe stays where you put it. Four small things decide it, and none of them cost a single dollar extra. You'll learn: • Why sauce goes into the empty pan before the first sheet, and how it lets the whole thing lift out in one piece • Why the ragu has to be thick before it ever goes in, and the spoon test that tells you • Six thin layers instead of three thick ones, and how to check yourself against the side of the pan • Why besciamella binds it and ricotta lets it weep at the bottom • How to sauce the edges and the top so nothing dries into a shard • The half hour of rest before the knife, the step everybody rushes Come, stand next to me a while. Build it this way once, and the square will sit on the plate with its stripes still showing.