Lasagna is among Italy’s oldest and most adaptable pasta dishes. Its familiar layers of noodles, sauce, cheese and meat developed over centuries, shaped by regional cooking traditions and the vessels available in Italian kitchens.

The name may be connected to the ancient Greek word “laganon,” which described a flat sheet of dough. Roman cooks also used a related word, “lasanum,” for a cooking vessel. These ancient terms do not describe modern lasagna exactly, but they suggest that broad pieces of dough and the pans used to prepare food have long been connected to the dish’s identity.

A recognizable ancestor of lasagna appeared in medieval Italy. The anonymous cookbook “Liber de Coquina,” compiled around the late 13th or early 14th century, included a recipe called “De lasanis.”

The recipe called for thin dough cut into small squares, cooked in boiling water or broth and arranged with grated cheese and spices. There was no tomato sauce because tomatoes had not yet reached Europe. Although it differed considerably from modern lasagna, the dish established the basic idea of pasta served in repeated layers.

Tomatoes arrived in Italy from the Americas during the 16th century. Italian cooks began recording tomato sauces by the late 17th century, although tomatoes became central to pasta cooking more gradually.

Regional lasagnas developed along different paths as tomato sauces became more common. In Bologna and the surrounding Emilia-Romagna region, lasagna came to feature sheets of pasta layered with ragù, béchamel and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Neapolitan lasagna became a more elaborate celebration dish. It often included tomato sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, sausage, hard-boiled eggs and small meatballs.

Italian immigrants carried those traditions to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Italian American cooks often combined the generous meat and cheese fillings associated with southern Italy with the substantial layered construction of northern recipes.

The result was the red-sauce lasagna now familiar at Sunday dinners, church suppers and family gatherings. Ground meat, ricotta, mozzarella and tomato sauce became the foundation of a dish designed to feed a table full of people.

The rectangular baking dish became a natural partner for American-style lasagna. Its straight sides support orderly layers, while its broad surface provides space for browned cheese and crisp edges.

A typical 9-by-13-inch baking dish also offers enough depth for several layers of pasta, sauce and filling. The shape makes the finished lasagna easier to portion into even squares while helping each serving hold together.

Stoneware adds another quality to the pan. It heats more gradually than thin metal and retains heat well after leaving the oven.

A glazed stoneware dish can also move directly from the oven to the table. That convenience continues an old tradition in which cooking and serving vessels were often the same object.

The Le Creuset Heritage Rectangular Casserole follows that tradition with glazed stoneware, curved handles and an oven-to-table design. The dish can also be used for baked pasta, casseroles, roasted vegetables and fruit desserts.

Lasagna has changed from medieval pasta and cheese into a bubbling pan of red sauce, meatballs and mozzarella. The rectangular stoneware dish has become part of that evolution by supporting the layers during baking and presenting the finished meal at the center of the table.

The connection between the food and the pan is both practical and visual. Lasagna depends on a vessel that can hold its structure, retain heat and move gracefully from kitchen to table.

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