Bossier Parish Library Column – 31Annie Gilmer, Community Engagement LibrarianJuly 29, 2026This week’s column topic is all about lasagna, partly because I didn’t expect even an unofficial holiday celebrating lasagna to be held in the middle of summer. The original dish was called “laganon” which, over the years and the various languages it was translated into eventually became “lasagna”. Original recipes for lasagna didn’t contain meat, but included such ingredients as eggplant, artichoke, spinach, ricotta cheese, and other grated cheeses. Crisci’s recipe is the first to be baked instead of boiled, and included layers of lasagna filled with cheese. From here we get the Neapolitan lasagna recipe which now included a meat ragu sauce, small fried meatballs, hard boiled eggs, and mozzarella cheese.