Skip The Oven And Cook Lasagna This Way For So Much More Flavor

If you've spent your whole life thinking lasagna is strictly an oven-made dish, you're about to have your mind blown. Cooking lasagna in a smoker can actually amplify one feature that is just so essential to any good lasagna: a slowly built depth of flavor. While this usually comes from a slow simmered ragù, the combination of heat and smoke have the incredible ability to change how all those layers of flavor develop.

Smoke clings to fat and for a Bolognese-style lasagna made with beef or pork and topped with a béchamel (or white sauce), it can deepen all the savory notes. This is because smoke can make umami-rich ingredients like meat taste even richer. And it's not limited to meat-heavy versions of lasagna either, even plant-based lasagnas, like those made with mushroom ragù, can also absorb smoke and add a savory depth to ingredients naturally high in umami, like mushrooms and tomatoes.

Smoking lasagna is straightforward, but there are a few details that will make it even better. First, build it as you normally would, assembling the perfect lasagna doesn't change just because you're cooking it outside. However, the usual number of lasagna layers that create a thicker stack can take longer to cook in a smoker, so about three or four layers is a more reliable number. Start low, around 180 degrees Fahrenheit, to let the smoke settle. Then, increase the heat to around 375 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for 30 minutes, keeping the lasagna wrapped in foil. For those unfamiliar with smoking, wood choice is important, too, as stronger woods like hickory add a more pronounced flavor, while apple or cherry is much lighter.

Finally, if you're looking for even easier ways to improve the flavor, smoke the filling first. Anything that's going into the ragù — such as sausage, ground beef, mushrooms, onion, or garlic — can have a stint on the smoker before they're added to the sauce to run those smoky flavors throughout the entire dish. Smoking a lasagna takes less time than the oven for a payoff that is noticeably richer. It's the same dish with the same structure but with flavors that have been slowly built — and you'll taste it.