Layers of Glory: National Lasagna Day Is July 29
Some holidays ask you to buy cards. Some ask you to hang lights. National Lasagna Day, which falls on Tuesday, July 29, asks only that you eat something in layers. This is the most reasonable holiday on the calendar.
A Few Things You Didn’t Know About Lasagna
It’s older than Italy. The word lasagna traces back to the Greek laganon — flat sheets of dough cut into strips. The Romans ran with it. So when someone tells you lasagna is a modern casserole, you may inform them it predates most European countries.
It was originally a rich person’s flex. The layered baked version we recognize took shape in Naples, and early versions were loaded with expensive ingredients to show off. Nothing says “I have arrived” like ricotta.
Northern and southern Italy have never agreed on it. In Emilia-Romagna, lasagna means green spinach pasta, ragù, and béchamel — no ricotta anywhere in sight. Head south and you get ricotta, mozzarella, sometimes little meatballs, sometimes sliced hard-boiled egg. Both sides are correct. Neither will admit it.
The world keeps reinventing it. Greece layers pasta with béchamel and cinnamon-spiced meat and calls it pastitsio. Argentina makes a version with ham. Somewhere right now, someone is making a dessert lasagna out of cookies and pudding, and honestly, good for them.
Come Make It From Scratch — July 29, 5:00 PM
I’m teaching a Lasagna class on National Lasagna Day itself, 5:00 PM, and we are not opening a box. We’re making the pasta sheets from scratch — flour, eggs, a rolling pin, and the moment you realize you’re never buying a frozen lasagna again. Once you know how the sheets come together, the whole dish becomes yours: more sauce, less cheese, swap the meat, add the vegetables you actually like. That’s the real takeaway. Not a recipe — a lasagna you can bend to your own taste, forever.
$45 per person, and you go home with a hot 8×8 tin of lasagna straight out of the oven. Dinner is handled. Or freeze it and let Future You send Present You a thank-you note.
To register: visit artcookery.com, scroll down to the red Calendar of Classes button, and click through to see everything coming up. Prefer to do it the old-fashioned way? Text 231-740-4065 or email ICan@artcookery.com.
A Standing Offer
If a class on the calendar has no registered students, I have no problem swapping it out for something you actually want to learn — even if it’s not something I currently offer. Want to learn properly carved poultry? Curry? The thing your grandmother made that you’ve never been able to replicate? Ask. The worst I can say is “give me a week or two to test it first.”
Sideline: August 8 Is National Zucchini Day
Mark it. August 8 is National Zucchini Day, which arrives at precisely the moment every gardener in Michigan realizes they have made a terrible miscalculation.
You planted three zucchini plants. You needed one-third of a zucchini plant. The zucchini know this. They are not sorry.
August 8 is the traditional time to celebrate the zucchini, cook with the zucchini, and — should the surplus become structural — quietly redistribute the zucchini to your neighbors’ porches under cover of darkness. It’s not stealing. It’s the opposite of stealing. There is no word for what you are doing.
Zucchini Makes a Genuinely Good Gluten-Free Lasagna
This is not a sad substitution. Zucchini lasagna is legitimately excellent (Think Eggplant Parmesan)— but only if you handle the water problem, because zucchini is basically a vegetable-shaped water balloon.
The tip: Slice zucchini lengthwise into ¼-inch planks. Lay them on a rack or towel, salt both sides generously, and let them sit 30 minutes. You’ll see beads of water come to the surface. Pat them completely dry, then either grill them or roast at 400°F for about 10 minutes until they’ve lost their raw crunch.
Then build your lasagna as usual. Skip this salt step and you’ll pull a beautiful pan out of the oven and find soup underneath it. Do this step and nobody at the table will guess there’s no pasta in there.
Cheesy Scalloped Zucchini
And for the Zucchini You Can't Even Compost Fast Enough
Here's a five-minute microwave scalloped zucchini that costs you no oven, one dish, and so delicious, your kid will eat it.Equipment
- 1 2-4 qt glass casserole dish with lid
- 1 cutting board and knife
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini sliced into 1/4" rounds
- 8-12 slices american cheese
- 1 medium onion, sliced optional
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Spray bowl with cooking spray (or butter).
- Add a layer of zucchine rounds, about 1/2 inch deep.
- Add a layer of onion slices, if using.
- Add a fine dusting of salt and pepper.
- Add American cheese, one layer, tear slices to fit.
- Repeat layers until bowl is full or zucchini used up. Be sure the top layer is cheese.
- Cover with lid and microwave on high 5 minutes.
- Uncover and microwave another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and a fork slid into the dish finds no resistance from the zucchini (fully cooked).
Notes
Grab n Go Is Rolling
The magic fridge is stocked and waiting. No minimum, no maximum, no commitment — grab what you want when you want it.
Want to be certain something’s there when you arrive? Text 231-740-4065, send an email to ICan@artcookery.com or send a Facebook message to ask what’s available, and I’ll happily bag it with your name on it so nobody else walks off with your dinner.
Week 29 (July 21–26)
Chicken and Gnocchi Soup — $8.50 (5 available)
Calling this a soup is underselling it. It’s thick enough to be an Alfredo chicken gnocchi meal that happens to be served in a bowl. Bring a spoon and no expectations for left overs.
Cast Iron Beef Skillet — SOLD OUT
It went fast. Those pre-orders are key to getting what you want! That’s the whole story.
Chicken Katsu — $11 (3 available)
A big plank of breaded, fried chicken breast with sushi rice and a cabbage ginger slaw, all seasoned with furikake. A little tub of tonkatsu sauce and a lemon wedge round it out. The correct way to eat this is to mix everything together and get chicken, rice, and slaw in every single bite. I don’t make the rules. I just discovered them and now I’m telling you.
Week 30 (July 28 – August 2)
Chili — available by order this week, not as a grab-and-go. You know…July/August not soup time but yummy in a/c. 🙂
Cuban Sloppy Jose Sammies — 2 sammies per meal, available. Think gloried sloppy joes with a cuban flair and our house dill pickles. Tuesday and later.
Lasagna Meals — available Thursday and later, because National Lasagna Day energy does not expire at midnight.
Prices for Week 30 are still being worked out — text or message and I’ll get you sorted.
Regards, Chef Valerie. Art of Cookery, 312 S. Division St., Whitehall, MI 49461.
