You can locate numerous recipes if you use the search phrase "lasagne al forno"-- but omit the quote marks.

I believe what you are seeing is simply a bechamel that has turned sort of tomato color from baking in the dish with the bolognese.

I agree with Linda. It looks like what happens when I reheat lasagna. :) They may also put the serving on a base of tomato/bolognese, and top it off with besciamella. This is a very old trick for reheating things you don't want to dry out in a very hot oven--float them either in custard or a roux based sauce.

Ditto the above. Mostly in Europe, you'll find most lasagne dishes are much drier than you're used to. In Italy when I've eaten it, it isn't swimming in rich sauces. restaurants do their things as Plllog says but home cooking there is rather more frugal plus the ladies don't want the extra calories. European women are very concious of that.

Good tips! Thank you all. Now to try it at home!

I should clarify, when I reheat a single portion in a hot oven, it looks like that because all the tomato and béchamel, and some of the cheese, melt and run out the sides, and turn into the orangey goo. :) Nowadays, I always use eggs, and am careful with the fat content, so that it'll stand better, and get melty without being runny. That's a trick, though, and has many variables. :)

My favorite way of having lasagne in Europe is the stack of pasta variety, where there's a little minced goodness between each leaf, and some besciamella, but is mostly just really good, handmade fresh pasta. Unaccountably, it pairs exceedingly well with dry sherry. :) At home, mine is more filling an much less pasta.

I think they use a little bit of carrot in the sauce for sweetness and cut acidity, which may give it the orange color?

Could be, but you can get that color with just something white and something red and some fat.

It's very common for northern Italian red sauce to have a bit of carrot for sweetness....but certainly not enough to change the color of a tomato sauce. But a bechamel and a tomato sauce will give you that color

I believe the OP might've answered her own question.

If the colors are true, it looks like a simple Aurora sauce (basically, a béchamel, combined with tomato sauce).

Sol

I made a bechamal sauce for the first time and it's delicious! Who knew that a little nutmeg in a whole lotta cream and butter would taste so good! (Millions of Italians, apparently. And what doesn't taste good in cream and butter!) Then I mixed it with some red sauce (just used some from a jar of marinara sauce for a quick test) and it tasted very good and getting close to what I've tasted in Europe. So I'm getting there. :)

Excellent! Millions of French, Greeks, and just about everybody else, too! It's just a matter of what you've been exposed to. Your quest is a great way to learn about different kinds of cooking--start with what you want to eat!

So, the difference is probably in the tomato sauce, and maybe some heating together so the flavors meld. Next time, put a little pasta with the red sauce in an oven proof dish, add the béchamel over the top, and bake or broil it at high heat until it reduces some, like in your picture (where you have the thickened part clinging to the bowl at the edges).

Try a home made meat sauce where the meat has had a chance to really cook down. The color will change from a bright tomato red to a rich, deep wine red color, and the meat will have given its goodness to the sauce, along with the onions, garlic, peppers, etc. I've never encountered a bottled sauce that had that kind of flavor, but you might try Rao's, or one that's packaged by a local restaurant, if you're not ready to make your own yet.

What about a tomato sauce w/ some heavy cream added?