Today I offer you a proper first course. These are my radicchio and cheese lasagnas. Besides being really delicious, they are also very simple to prepare. Here the ingredients speak for themselves. I used Chioggia radicchio slowly stewed with a touch of honey to soften its bitterness and a combination of mild scamorza and brie that made the filling creamy without the need for béchamel. Grated cheese and a handful of broken walnuts completed the dish, giving it structure and contrasting textures. The result is an essential but rich lasagna, balanced in flavors and perfect for those who enjoy first courses with a bold character. So, if you love lasagna, this is a version to try.
Or you can choose from these:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 5 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients for radicchio lasagna
The quantities in this recipe are intended for a square baking dish of 8 2/3 in (22 cm). To cover each layer well you will need 7 lasagna sheets (one sheet plus a small piece). If you use a smaller pan, you can slightly reduce the quantities and use 5 lasagna sheets. Adjust radicchio and cheeses accordingly.
If you prefer a stronger flavor, you can replace mild scamorza with smoked scamorza while keeping the rest of the recipe unchanged.
- 7 sheets fresh lasagna sheets
- 1 lb red radicchio (weight after trimming (~450 g))
- 1 shallot (large – about 2.1 oz (60 g))
- 8 oz scamorza (mild)
- 8 oz brie
- 3 tbsp walnut pieces (coarsely broken (about 20 g))
- honey (just a little)
- 2.1 oz Grana Padano, grated (or Parmigiano)
- 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
- butter
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
Tools
- 1 Salad spinner for salads
- 1 Large pan
- 1 Grater coarse-holed
- 1 Pan small
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Baking dish square 8 2/3 in
Preparation of radicchio lasagna
Wash the red radicchio well, dry it in a salad spinner and cut it into thin strips.
Peel the shallot and chop it finely. I used a manual pull-string chopper that I find really handy. If you want to buy it you can find it by clicking HERE.
Grate the scamorza into julienne using a coarse-holed grater.
Slice the brie. To make it easier, I put it in the freezer for about half an hour.
Break the walnuts roughly with your hands and toast them for a couple of minutes in a hot pan without any fat, stirring often. Then remove them from the pan and let them cool. It is better not to cut walnuts with a knife because that produces many crumbs. By breaking them by hand they split along their natural fiber. This way you get irregular pieces (some larger, some smaller) that give a clear crunchy sensation in the mouth rather than a “gritty” one.
In a small bowl mix two tablespoons of grated cheese taken from the total with one tablespoon of breadcrumbs. This mixture will be used for the final topping and will give a really nice crust.
In a large pan, heat a few tablespoons of oil before adding the chopped shallot. When it starts to sizzle, add the radicchio. Once the radicchio has wilted (this takes about 4–5 minutes), season with a generous pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper and continue cooking for about ten minutes over low heat, stirring often. Add also a little honey which will help counteract the radicchio’s bitter flavor.
Butter the bottom and sides of a square baking dish of 8 2/3 in (22 cm) and cover the bottom with lasagna sheets: one whole sheet + a small piece.
Then put some radicchio, then scamorza and pieces of brie. Sprinkle with some grated cheese and add a few toasted walnut pieces. Don’t add too many at once: they should only provide an occasional “crunch” and not become the star of the dish. Finally, drizzle with a little oil.
Continue in the same way to form the remaining layers and finish with a layer of lasagna sheets, some scamorza, the previously prepared cheese-and-breadcrumb mixture and a few small knobs of butter here and there. (I forgot to take a photo here so I pulled a frame from a video just to give you an idea of how the final layer should look).
Bake the radicchio and cheese lasagna in a preheated conventional oven at 356°F for 35 minutes: cover with aluminum foil for the first 20 minutes of baking, then remove the foil and continue baking for the remaining 15 minutes, adding 2 minutes under the broiler if you want extra browning. But please… watch them closely!
Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly before serving directly from the baking dish. Enjoy! Paola
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