Can you Pair Lasagne with Sparkling Wine?

Other than being famous for history, people, culture and wine, Italy also has some outstanding, audience up on their feet, unforgettable food, and today we’re looking at one of Italy’s most famous dishes, Lasagne.

To quickly clear up which is correct lasagna or lasagne. Lasagna is the American spelling. Lasagne is the British spelling.

Indeed when looking for who loves Lasagne the most, this dish is most enjoyed by a famous little cat, who hates Mondays, I’m of course talking about Garfield, voiced by the even more famous Bill Murray.

Garfield was created by Jim Davis in 1978, the overweight orange tabby cat is always connected to two determining things, he hates Monday’s and he loves Lasagne, the reason behind this is simply because the created Jim Davis is a huge fan of Lasagne, he once said: “I thought it would be funny to have a cat that likes lasagna, but as it turns out, I hear from people all the time that their cats love lasagna.” he also mentioned that he wished he made Pizza Garfield’s favourite food, as it would have been easier to draw.

Lasagne Through The Ages

Lasagne most certainly originated from Italy, and it’s was probably first made in the city of Naples, as for exactly when is up for debate, there have been many times that a dish similar to Lasagne has been made, with the earliest being from 1282, when Lasagna was mentioned in a poem in the Memoriali Bolognesi.

It was then famously quoted in 1284 by Fra’ Salimbene da Parma who said “I’ve never seen anyone stuffing himself on lasagna with cheese so pleasurably and so fully as him.” referring to a chubby friar who was eating a lasagne, this suggests that by this time cheese was incorporated in the recipe.

The first time a recipe was recorded for a lasagna was in the early 14 century in Liber de Coquina (The Book of Cookery), it was made with lasagne and cheese, but it was eaten on a small pointed stick, so not exactly the Lasagne we all know and love yet.

It was also mentioned in a 14th century English cookbook which showed placing ingredients between pasta sheets, but the Lasagne we all know and love today, could never have been created before 1492, because that is when Christopher Columbus discovered the New World of the Americas aboard his ship Santa Maria, as tomatoes first originated in the Peru-Ecuador-Bolivia area of the Andes.

The first time tomatoes were talked about in European literature was in 1544 by Pietro Andrea Mattioli, then over 100 years later, the first cookbook to include tomatoes in a recipe was published in Naples in 1692, the author is said to have found the recipe from Spanish sources, but then almost 200 years after that, tomatoes were finally included in a Lasagne recipe in 1880 in Naples.

As for the name ‘Lasagna’ might have been pinched from Greeks, either from the words λάγανον (laganon) λάσανα (lasana) or λάσανον (lasanon) but that’s a story for another day.

The Sparkling Wine

Ferrari Trento is the Official Toast of Formula 1, so if you watched Max Verstappen win the 2021 Season, you would have seen him drinking and spraying from a Jeroboam bottle of Ferrari on the podium. Ferrari Trento is a perfect winery to celebrate with.

Ferrari Trento and F1 signed a three-year exclusive partnership, so we’ll be seeing them on the podium again when Formula 1 starts again on Sunday the 20th of March.

Matteo Lunelli, President & CEO of Ferrari Trento was quoted on F1.com saying: “We are very excited to announce this partnership with Formula 1 which is both an achievement and a starting point for us. It’s an achievement because it demonstrates the renown and the appeal that Ferrari Trento wines enjoy internationally, thanks to our team that works tirelessly across the board. It’s a starting point because we are just beginning this extraordinary adventure that will allow us to bring the Italian Art of Living to the celebrations of Formula 1. We decided to embark on this project even in this complex time that the world is currently experiencing because we strongly believe in the future of Ferrari Trento.”

The creation of Ferrari Trento is all down to the highly regarded Giulio Ferrari, who started his journey back in 1902, he started creating his extraordinary vineyard/winery in the divine Trento city in Italy that then started creating unforgettable Sparkling Wines. Giulio wanted to be able to turn the area of Trentino into a place capable of competing with the finest French Champagnes and I think it’s safe to say that his dream became a reality.

Interesting Fact – He knew the area of Trentino was a good location to plant vines, so after choosing the location he had the challenge of picking the vines he wanted to plant, he went for Chardonnay and ended up becoming the first person to make substantial plantings of Chardonnay in Italy.

If you want to find out more about Ferrari Trento, continue reading Ferrari Trento – “A Dream is all you Need” or find out more about Magnums vs Standard Sized Bottles with Ferrari Trento

Ferrari Trento – Perlé Rosé 2015

Aroma 👃 “Wild red berry skins, plum and oaky and toasty aromas.” 

Flavour 👅 “Red berries, raspberry, herbal, oaky and toasty with mineral flavour which makes you feel like you’re in the Italian Dolomites.”

This is a Sparkling Wine you can enjoy before the meal with the meal and after the meal, long into the night.

This Italian Trento Won a Silver Medal in the Gastronomic Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2021

Lasagne and Sparkling Wine Pairing

Lasagne and Sparkling Wine Pairing Notes – “The homemade lasagne is perfectly delicate, with meaty flavours and creamy texture, the Sparkling Wine adds a wave of red berries which feels at first like they want to take over, but they quickly settle side by side, allowing for the amazing lasagne flavours to be accompanied by red berries and mineral flavour from the Ferrari Rosé.”

Lasagne Infomation Credit: Wikipedia – Italy Magazine – Mi’talia