Lasagna sheets are wide, flat sheets of pasta.
The sheets are made from a pasta dough that is rolled or pressed into broad rectangles, then layered with fillings to make the baked dish commonly called lasagna. The pasta may be fresh and tender or commercially dried, and it can have smooth or ruffled edges. In Italian, lasagne usually refers to multiple sheets, while English usage commonly uses lasagna for both the pasta and the finished casserole.
Lasagna has regional variations across Italy. In southern Italy, traditional pasta dough often used semolina and water. In northern regions, where semolina was historically less available, cooks traditionally used flour and eggs. Emilia-Romagna became especially famous for thin, hand-rolled sfoglia, sometimes made green with spinach.
The pasta’s history is medieval, although related layered dishes and names have older roots. A written reference to lasagne appears in a Bolognese text from 1282, while an early-14th-century recipe described boiled dough sheets served with cheese and spices. Modern baked lasagna typically alternates pasta with sauce, meat, vegetables, or dairy before baking.