Pick up a single sheet of Pastificio Faella Lasagna and you know it’s something special. Made in the traditional Gragnano style, each lasagna sheet is long, thick, and narrow. Nothing like those stamped industrial rectangles that can be found on the supermarket shelves! Once baked, be ready for textural sensation. Their porousness means they absorb extra moisture and flavor, and their thickness means they retain a pleasantly firm bite. Florence Fabricant, the New York Times authority on all things epicurean, is a convert.
Check out what she had to say about Faella Lasagna in her Front Burner column:
A new option for making lasagna has arrived from Italy. Faella, a family-owned company in Gragnano, near Naples, makes pastas in the traditional fashion, extruded through bronze dies and slowly air-dried before packaging. It produces wide strips of dried pasta for lasagna that are now available in the United States. Use the pasta strips (1 ½ by 10 inches), which require about 5-minutes parboiling then cooling on a countertop, for building a hearty vegetable lasagna. Layer it with well-seasoned slices of grilled eggplant, sautéed frying peppers and shiitake mushroom caps, a tier of blanched and shredded brussels sprouts, whole canned San Marzano tomatoes lightly crushed, the freshest ricotta you can find and some shredded mozzarella to go on top. Bake and serve at once or set it aside for a quick reheat later.
That recipe sounds delicious, Florence! Faella Lasagna stand up to whatever you choose to layer them with. Since they’re parboiled, you’ll only need to cook your assembled lasagna for 20 minutes or so to achieve that signature Faella mouthfeel. If you’re looking for more detailed instructions, check out how Maria Cristina Faella makes her lasagna. She fills hers with Miracolo tomatoes, mini meatballs, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella. In the mood for something vegetarian? We’ve got a recipe for an autumnal lasagna bianco with caramelized red onions, radicchio, and pumpkin. Buonissimo!
