Lasagna is a comfort food staple known for its hearty layers of pasta, rich meat sauces, creamy béchamel and melted cheese. The origins of lasagna can be traced to ancient Greece and Rome. The word lasagna is believed to come from the Greek term ‘laganon,’ flat sheets of dough made from wheat and water. These sheets were cut into strips and baked, that bears some resemblance to the pasta sheets used in modern lasagna.

The Romans later adopted this dish, and there are references in ancient Roman cookbooks to ‘lagana,’ which were layers of dough alternated with meat or vegetables. However, these early versions lacked two key ingredients that now define lasagne – tomato sauce and cheese – because tomatoes wouldn’t arrive in Europe from the Americas until the 16th century.