Lasagna in Brodo (Lasagna in Broth) - A Traditional Dish from Molise

Lasagna in brodo with meatballs and shredded chicken

Lasagna in Brodo (Lasagna in Broth) - A Traditional Dish from Molise

Lasagna in broth is a traditional dish from Molise - it's a lasagna layered with shredded chicken, mini meatballs, mozzarella, and parmigiano - served with lots of chicken broth!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 4

Cook Time 30

Servings pieces

Calories 467kcal

Author Pina Bresciani

Ingredients

1 batch homemade chicken broth
400 g fresh mozzarella cut into small pieces
1.5 cups parmigiano reggiano grated (plus more for serving)
5 fresh lasagna sheets see notes on size

For the mini meatballs

450 grams lean ground beef
1 egg
½ cup breadcrumbs
½ cup parmigiano reggiano grated
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin

Instructions

Shred the chicken

Using the whole chicken used to make the broth, pull apart the meat from the bones. Discard the bones, and you will be left with shredded chicken to use in the lassagna.

Make the mini meatballs

Place all the meatball ingredients in a bowl except for the olive oil.
Mix the ingredients well with a fork or your hands, until they are all combined.
Take a small piece of the mixture and form a little meatball by rolling it in between your hands. The meatballs should be about 2cm in diameter.
Repeat until all meatballs are formed and there is no meat left.
In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Place the meatballs in the olive oil, working in batches if necessary.
Brown on all sides - this will not take long since the meatballs are so small (a few minutes). It's ok if they're not completely cooked through - they will finish cooking once placed in the oven as part of the lasagna.
Place the meatballs to the side and cover with tin foil.

Cook the lasagna sheets

Bring a large pot of water to boil. add salt the water. Drop the lasagna sheets in, about two at a time. Depending on how thick the lasagna sheets are, bil them for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Place the lasagna sheets on a tea towel.

Assemble the lasagna

Preheat oven to 350F. To a baking dish, add about one ladle of broth. Place pasta sheets on top to cover the surface of the dish.
Top with shredded chicken and meatballs. Add more broth.
Top with mozzarella and parmigiano.
Assemble the second layer - add pasta sheets, shredded chicken, meatballs, broth, mozzarella and parmigiano.
Assemble the top layer - add pasta sheets, broth, mozzarella and parmigiano.
Add the lasagna to the oven. Bake for about 30 mins or until cheese is melted. Place under broiler for 3-5 minutes to brown the top.
Remove from the oven. Cut a piece, place it in a bowl, and add more broth to the plate. Top with grated parmigiano reggiano and minced parsley if desired. Serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

- The very traditional way to cook the meatballs is to cook them from raw in the chicken broth - I chose to fry them because I thought they would have more flavor this way. You can cook them in the broth if you'd like!
- You can use veal instead of beef to make the meatballs if desired

- You can use pizza (dry) mozzarella instead of fresh mozzarella. The final dish will be more cheesy

- You can also shred the carrots that were used in the broth and layer them in the lasagna as well.

- All together, when assembling the lasagna, I used about 1.5 - 2 cups of broth

- You may have some shredded chicken and meatballs left over at the end

- The size of baking dish used in this recipe is: 8 x 11.5 inches

- The size of the pasta sheets used in this recipe is: 5 x 11.5 inches. If the sheets you're using are a different size, you will have to adjust the number of sheets used.

Nutrition