It's easy to say baked pasta or "mess", le lasagna and i cannelloni they are much more! Two ancient recipes that belong to the heritage of Italian cuisine, known and appreciated throughout the world. Two delicious first courses which are usually part of party menu, like the one of Christmas you hate New Year or of the Sunday menu, when you want to prepare a traditional first course that manages to bring everyone together at the table, from the smallest to the biggest of the house.

But what to prepare? The classics lasagna with Bolognese sauce or i classic ricotta and spinach cannelloni or meat? Both proposals are really appetizing and inviting …

There lasagna as we know it today it was born from the popular kitchen, from the union of various culinary traditions that share the preparation method of the layered pasta. The ingredients of Northern lasagna are different from that of the South, starting with the use of bechamel and ricotta or mozzarella. If the Emilian lasagna provides a puff of fresh pasta (also green, with the addition of spinach in the dough) and the use of classic Bolognese ragù, Grated Parmigiano Reggiano, béchamel and butter. The Neapolitan lasagna, on the other hand, presents a white pastry dough not egg-shaped, with Neapolitan ragù (with or without meatballs), mozzarella or provola, ricotta, pecorino or other dairy products. The baked lasagna it is therefore a versatile dish, which you can enrich and try with always different fillings and combinations that follow tastes and seasons: vegetarian or vegan, with mushrooms or cheese, with tasty lamb ragù, with sausage, pumpkin or radicchio. The possible variations are really endless and the winter season, with its flavors, offers tasty products that are well suited to accompany this dish.

THE cannelloni they are as widespread as the lasagna, and they too lend themselves to a thousand variations: blank, with vegetables or a fish base. They are made with the same matrix as the lasagne: the pasta dough, with or without eggs. There is a school of thought that favors the dry egg pasta, small cylinders of industrially produced pasta that you can easily find at the supermarket; while another school of thought wants it to be used fresh egg pasta ready in rectangles or made with your own hands.

If you have decided to start your lasagna or your cannelloni from homemade egg pasta, first of all, you will need to be very patient, because the preparation time will be longer, but the final result of the dish will certainly be unique and amazing. If you are comfortable with the rolling pin, you can roll the dough by hand until it is 1-2 millimeters thick, thicker for the lasagne, thinner for the cannelloni; otherwise, you can use the rollers of a pasta machine. Then cut it into 8 cm by 12 rectangles, if you want to prepare cannelloni, larger 15 cm by 20 cm, if you want to prepare lasagna. At this point, before proceeding to form the states of yours lasagna o the rolls stuffed for yours cannelloni, burn the rectangles of fresh pasta for 1 minute, one at a time, in plenty of slightly salted boiling water. Drain al dente, then transfer them to a tray, where you have placed a clean cloth. If you prefer, you can immerse them in cold water for a moment so as to block cooking, but the important thing is to spread the various rectangles perfectly, without overlapping them.

Lasagna and cannelloni they are undoubtedly demanding recipes, but once you have prepared the ingredients, all you have to do is assemble them and cook the timbale in the oven; if you prefer, you can also prepare them the day before and cook the lasagna or cannelloni just before the guests arrive, in this way you will have time to relax and enjoy yourself appetizers or appetizers at the table with your guests

Finally, some tips could not be missing to make the most of yours baked pasta is the mistakes not to be made. For example, to reduce the risk of drying the pasta too much, you prefer iron and aluminum glass or ceramic oven dish; cover your lasagna or your cannelloni with tinfoil, about 20 minutes after cooking: the surface must be au gratin and have no burnt parts. Uses condiments not too watery and grease the bottom and the edges of the container carefully. Dried pasta makes more (and absorbs less juice) than fresh pasta. And finally, cook the lasagna at a lower temperature than cannelloni: baking in the oven, gelatinizing the starches, "freezes" the cooking of the pasta keeping it al dente even for the next day.

If you have not yet made a choice if lasagne or cannelloni and the doubt grips you, all you have to do is read the Salt & Pepper recipes of queta top ten! Let yourself be inspired by the ingredients and guide in the steps with descriptions, images or videos: with Salt and pepper in the kitchen, prepare the lasagna o cannelloni the choice will be easier than you imagine!