To introduce this traditional Bolognese recipe, I’ll start with a fun fact.
Although they are called Goccia d’Oro lasagne, which means Golden Drop, today, the golden drop is no longer an ingredient of this baked lasagna.
The origin of the Goccia d’Oro lasagne
Probably its origin dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century.
And, at first, the recipe was different from what we cook today.
The first thing that changes over time concerns the filling.
Before cooked ham, Goccia d’Oro was with a meat sauce made with veal or pork meat, turkey, ham (Italian Prosciutto Crudo), and sweetbreads.
Again, from the recipe, over time, has disappeared the Goccia d’Oro, that is, “ovarine” (little eggs).
Ovarine are eggs extracted from just butchered hens. They are eggs without egg white, only yolk, and look like drops of gold. Hence the name of the recipe.
According to some sources, to make Goccia d’Oro famous was Vittorio Zurla, of the notorious Pappagallo restaurant in Bologna, who in the 1950s changed the recipe using the goccia d’oro sauce for lasagna and tortellini.
But Goccia D’Oro was probably born in some private home and then replicated, perhaps improved, in the kitchens of Bolognese restaurants. Among these, the most renowned was that of the Pappagallo.
Mrs. Eleonora’s recipe
That recipe of Goccia d’Oro is from the repertoire of Eleonora, an exceptional cook.
She worked at the Morini hotel restaurant in Imola, a small town near Bologna, where I was born and raised. The Hotel Restaurant no longer exists today, but once was known and appreciated.
Eleonora was a great cook. I understood it even though I was a child.
And, above all, she was my dada. In Italy, dada means a lovely person who belongs to the family even if she isn’t a family member.
And, really, the Christmas lunches of my family, the ones I associate with the best years (when we were all still there), bore her signature from beginning to end: from capon broth to tortellini (which we made at my home), from roasts to desserts.
She taught me to make mayonnaise, roast gravy, and many other recipes. And she showed Sara how to make Goccia d’Oro Lasagne, a Bolognese and modern recipe (but not as antique as tortellini and other recipes).
The Goccia d’Oro lasagne is five layers of yellow bolognese pasta sheets cut into rectangles.
You can make the pasta dough by cutting rectangles the right size for your baking pan or buy it ready-made.
The ingredients are béchamel sauce, cooked ham, and champignon mushrooms. Some people use dried porcini mushrooms, but not me. Porcini covers the flavors, turning the Golden Drop into a Porcini lasagna.
If you like them, you can use a small amount mixed with the other mushrooms.
Buona cucina, Monica
Green Lasagne: Lasagne Verdi a la Bolognese
On the blog, find the recipe for the other Bolognese lasagna, the most famous one: lasagne alla Bolognese with green pasta dough. And the recipe to make the Bolognese meat sauce.
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Goccia d'Oro Lasagne
Equipment
- Remember tochoose a baking pan suitable for the size of the rectangles. To me, the mold is 23x16cm.
Ingredients
Pasta dough
- 200 g 00 flour
- 2 eggs (about 100-120g)
Filling
- 700 g of bèchamel sauce
- 300 g of cooked ham
- 250 g champignons
- 100 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Top layer
- nutmeg, butter flakes and grated parmigiano to taste
Instructions
Note on mushrooms
- If using fresh champignons, clean, thinly slice, and cook in a saucepan with butter, olive oil, and a pinch of salt on a moderate stove. Let the mushroom's liquid dry out and turn off the stove.
- If you prefer canned mushrooms, rinse them under hot running water.
Pasta dough
- Make a well with your fistin the center of the flour and add the eggs.
- Using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the well in a circular motion until large breadcrumbs form.
- From this point on, knead the dough on a clean surface with your hands. Knead it vigorously until smooth, firm, and well-combined about 15 minutes.
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic and allow it to rest for at least 30minutes and up to several hours at room temperature. If storing overnight,refrigerate, then bring back up to room temperature before use.
- After resting, roll out the pasta sheet thinly, either with a rolling pin or a pasta machine.
- Using apasta wheel, cut out five rectangles the size of your baking pan.
- In salted boiling water, cook one rectangle at a time for one minute, lay on a dishtowel, and set aside.
Assemble the lasagna
- Preheat oven to 190C degrees (374F).
- Grease the bottom and edges of the baking dish with plenty of butter.
- In the center of the tray, place a tablespoon of béchamel sauce to firm the first layer of the pasta sheet.
- Lay a thin layer of béchamel sauce on the pasta sheet, cover with cooked ham, spread a bout two tablespoons of mushrooms, add another two tablespoons of béchamel sauce, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Add another pasta sheet layer, apply light pressure with your fingers, and proceed as above until the last layer.
Top layer
- Cover it with a thin stratum of béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the top with plenty of Parmesan cheese, and add a few flakes of butter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Food Tips
- To recreate the golden drop effect, add an egg yolk to the béchamel sauce.After baking the lasagna, you can store it in the refrigerator for two days or, once cooled, store it in the freezer. Beforeeating them, let them defrost out of the freezer. Thaw in the morning for theevening or the night before for lunch the next day.Then warmthe lasagna in the oven. Remember to cover the pan with aluminum foil to prevent them from drying out.
