Sicilian lasagna has several layers of deliciousness combining meat ragu with peas, creamy bechamel sauce, mozzarella and chopped hard-boiled eggs. All perfectly balanced to create the perfect lasagna!
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of devouring this lasagna prepared by my cousin in Sicily. It was pure lasagna heaven with the perfect balance of sauce and cheese and not at all heavy.
You’ll notice the surface of the lasagna is sparingly dotted with cubed mozzarella and not covered by a thick layer of cheese. This is how it’s done in Italy, all in moderation!
You’re probably wondering, what exactly is it about this lasagna that makes it Sicilian?
How does Sicilian Lasagna differ from other types of lasagna?
- Without a doubt, the first thing you will notice are the green peas. Yes indeed, those are green peas stirred into the meat sauce or ragu. This is quite common in Sicilian cooking and found in other recipes such as arancini and baked rice casserole.
- Next is the addition of chopped hard boiled eggs over each layer of pasta. Again this is typical and seen in other dishes such as polpettone with hard-boiled eggs, Sicilian pasta al forno, and even in eggplant parmigiana.
- Another possible addition which I did not include, nor did my cousin, is prosciutto cotto chopped into small cubes.
Of course, do keep in mind that lasagna recipes vary from one province to the next even within Sicily. This recipe is quite typical in the north east corner of Sicily, that is in the province of Messina.
What type of lasagna sheets are used in this recipe?
I used no-boil lasagna sheets, just as my cousin in Sicily, to put this lasagna together in no time!
Be sure to avoid reducing the sauce until it is too thick. The liquid is necessary to cook the lasagna sheets sufficiently during baking. However, you may opt for traditional lasagna sheets, if you prefer.
The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. Please scroll to the end of this post for the detailed, printable recipe card.
How to make Sicilian Lasagna:
Prepare the ragu with peas:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet or sauce pan and sauté a finely diced onion, carrot, celery stalk and a pinch of salt until golden, about 10 minutes.
Stir in 2 minced garlic cloves and red pepper flakes (optional) and cook for 1 minute. Add the ground meat trio (beef, veal and pork) and cook, stirring and breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with red wine and cook until it evaporates. Pour in 1 jar of tomato passata. Then pour 2 cups of water or chicken stock in the bottle, swirl it around to gather up all the remaining sauce and pour back into the pan.
Add bay leaves, salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook partially covered for 1 hour.
Stir in green peas and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning if needed.
Prepare the bechamel sauce:
While the sauce simmers, prepare the bechamel sauce.
Melt butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Do not allow it to brown (1). Whisk in flour until it forms a thick paste (2). Slowly whisk in milk and stir (3). Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (4). Remove from heat and add a pinch of nutmeg and salt, to taste.
Prepare remaining ingredients:
- Hard boil 3 eggs. Let cool, peel and chop coarsely. Set aside in a bowl.
- Cut mozzarella into cubes or grate, if you prefer.
- Grate Parmigiano cheese.
Assemble the lasagna:
Ladle enough sauce to cover the bottom of a rectangular lasagna pan. Arrange sheets of lasagna over the sauce, breaking pieces if necessary in order to cover the entire surface.
Cover the lasagna sheets with ragu with peas. I added approximately 2 ladlefuls to each layer.
Drizzle bechamel sauce over the ragu with a spoon. 
Evenly sprinkle with cubed mozzarella, chopped hard-boiled eggs and a spoonful of grated Parmigiano cheese. Repeat with 3 more layers of pasta adding hard-boiled eggs to each layer except the top layer.
Cover tightly with foil and bake in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for 45 minutes.
Uncover and broil for a minute or two until the mozzarella is golden brown and bubbling. Serve hot. 
Tips and suggestions:
Can Sicilian Lasagna be frozen?
The fully assembled lasagna can be frozen prior to baking. To bake, place the frozen lasagna in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Uncover only in the last 15 minutes of baking.
Can I use traditional lasagna sheets for this recipe?
Definitely! Continue simmering the ragu with peas for an additional 15 minutes. Homemade lasagna sheets may also be used in place of dry lasagna sheets.
Substitutions or possible add-ins:
- Use 500 grams of only one type of ground meat (if you prefer) instead of combined beef, veal and pork trio.
- The bechamel sauce may be replaced with ricotta. Add dollops of ricotta over each layer of pasta.
- Add small cubes of prosciutto cotto to each layer.
- If you dislike peas in your meat sauce, simply omit them!
If you try out this recipe, please let me know how much you enjoyed it by rating it in the recipe card below. Feel free to Pin it for later. Buon appetito!
Check out these traditional Sicilian pasta recipes!
- Sicilian Pasta al Forno
- Pasta with Ricotta
- Sicilian Pasta with Cauliflower
- Pasta alla Norma
- Eggplant Involtini with Maccaruna
Ingredients
For the ragu with peas
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 1 stalk celery finely diced
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- pinch red pepper flakes optional
- 500 grams ground meat (veal, beef and pork combined)
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 796 ml tomato passata (tomato purée)
- 2 cups water or chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
For the bechamel sauce
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- pinch nutmeg
- salt to taste
For assembling
- 325 grams lasagna sheets no boil
- 3 large hard boiled eggs
- 350 grams mozzarella cubed (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 4 tbsp. Parmigiano cheese grated
Instructions
Prepare the ragu with peas:
- In a large skillet or sauce pan, sauté a finely diced onion, carrot, celery stalk and a pinch of salt until golden, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in minced garlic cloves and red pepper flakes (optional) and cook for 1 minute. Stir in ground meat trio (beef, veal and pork) and cook, stirring and breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Deglaze with red wine and cook until it evaporates. Pour in 1 jar of tomato passata. Pour 2 cups of water or chicken stock in the bottle, swirl it around to gather up all the sauce and pour back into the pan.
- Add bay leaves, salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook partially covered about 1 hour.
- Stir in green peas and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning if needed.
Prepare the bechamel sauce:
- While the sauce is simmering prepare the bechamel sauce.
- Melt butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Do not allow it to brown.
- Whisk in flour until it forms a thick paste. Slowly whisk in milk and stir.
- Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and add a pinch of nutmeg and salt, to taste. Set aside
Prepare remaining ingredients:
- Hard boil 3 eggs. Let cool, peel and chop coarsely. Set aside in a bowl.
- Cut mozzarella into cubes or grate it if you prefer.
- Grate Parmigiano cheese.
Assemble the lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a rectangular lasagna pan: ladle enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Arrange sheets of lasagna over the sauce, breaking pieces if necessary to cover the entire surface.
- Cover the lasagna sheets with ragu with peas. I add approximately 2 ladlefuls to each layer.
- Drizzle bechamel sauce over the ragu with a spoon. Evenly sprinkle with cubed mozzarella, chopped hard-boiled eggs and a spoonful of grated Parmigiano cheese.
- Repeat with 3 more layers of pasta adding hard-boiled eggs to each layer except the top layer.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and broil for a minute or two until the mozzarella is golden brown and bubbling. Serve hot.
Notes
Can Sicilian Lasagna be frozen?
Once the lasagna is assembled it can be frozen prior to baking. To bake, place the frozen lasagna in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Uncover only in the last 15 minutes of baking. Can I use traditional lasagna sheets for this recipe? Definitely! Continue simmering the ragu with peas for an additional 15 minutes. The sauce does not need to be as liquidy in order to cook the no-boil lasagna sheets. Homemade lasagna sheets may also be used in place of dry lasagna sheets. Substitutions or possible add-ins:- Use 500 grams of only one type of ground meat (if you prefer) instead of combined beef, veal and pork trio.
- The bechamel sauce may be replaced with ricotta. Add dollops of ricotta over each layer of pasta.
- Add small cubes of prosciutto cotto to each layer.
- If you dislike peas in your meat sauce, simply omit them!
My Nonna, also from Provinca di Messina always put boiled eggs in her amazing lasagne. She wouldn’t use ground meat though. Instead she would use pork spare ribs, stewed in the tomato sauce until it melted off the bone. I’ve tried several different types of lasagne sheet, even made my own, and I have never been able to recreate how good Nonna’s was.
Hi Meli, boiled eggs in baked pasta dishes is definitely a Sicilian thing and so delicious! The pork ribs in lasagna sound good to me as well and of course nonna/mom always makes the best and so hard to replicate. Thanks for your comment!
Just made this, loved it! I used fresh lasagna sheets and it turned out great!
Hello Sue, so glad you enjoyed it and I have no doubt it is even better with fresh lasagna sheets! Thanks for your comment!
Yum! I’m definitely going to give this a try. I love lasagna but have never made the Sicilian version. Sounds incredible. I usually use non-cook lasagna sheets myself these days and keeping the sauce loose is definitely key to success.
Hi Frank, I’m fortunate to finally be able to enjoy this version cause I was allergic to peas for most of my life! And yes, the non-cook lasagna sheets help make the process so much easier and faster! Thanks!
I never met a lasagna I didn’t love! This looks delightful Nadia – I will definitely try it next time the occasion calls for something special for family and friends – hopefully soon but one never knows with Cophid hanging around longer than we’d like. This is actually not all that different from the lasagna I grew up with (Neapolitan mama, Calabrese papa) except no peas – mama always made the tiniest meatballs to add to each layer which I have not seen others do but I know it was very typical with all of my relatives in NYC. I am always so grateful to have your recipes arrive, knowing how important it is to keep traditions alive as you do so well. So many thanks to you for the effort!
Hi Anna, I have to agree with you! I really enjoyed this lasagna in Sicily and I also enjoy my mom’s lasagna with little meatballs in it. I do hope you have the opportunity soon to prepare it for your family! Thanks again for your kind words and encouragement!
This looks delicious. I plan to make it for All Saints’ Day. My mother used to make her lasaga with little meatballs included. Is that an Italian-American thing or do they do that in Sicily or Naples (where my family is from) ?
Hi Mykel, I do hope you enjoy it! My mom also makes lasagna with little meatballs. To be honest with you I’m not sure if it’s something she began doing here or originally from Sicily, I must ask her. But I do love that lasagna as well!