[1] Instead of lasagna, make this pasta bake. Add chicken for a Chicken Parm fusion (photos #1 and #2 © DeLallo).

[2] Delallo Tomato Passata (purée) forms the sauce. You can find it in stores or online.

[3] Panko, Japanese-style crunchy breadcrumbs, are our favorite. We no longer use conventional breadcrumbs for breading (photo © Progresso).

We count ourselves among the lasagna lovers who eagerly order it at restaurants but don’t have the energy to make it at home.

We found a great hacks in Ravioli Lasagna, where sheets of ravioli are layered in between the cheese.

(Since it’s the first day of fall, here are recipes for Pumpkin Lasagna and Pumpkin Ravioli Lasagna.)

Today’s hack is simply a pasta bake with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan: the ingredients of lasagna in an easy-to-throw-together dish. No wrangling of lasagna noodles is involved.

Instead, you can use any “short cut” of pasta, from:

 
It’s also easier to eat than lasagna: There’s no need to cut into the wide lasagna noodles.

This recipe, which was contributed to the DeLallo recipe archive by Love & Olive Oil, adds chicken breasts as protein. If you don’t want the chicken, adapt the recipe to pasta only.

But chicken turns it into a different hommage recipe: Chicken Parmesan.

Americans say their favorite Italian food is Chicken Parm, and March 11th is National Chicken Parm Day.

There’s also National Chicken Parmesan Day on April 19th. See the explanation in the †footnote.

Below:

> The recipe for Chicken Parmesan Lasagna.

> The history of Chicken Parmesan.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> The history of lasagna.

> The history of baked pasta (pasta al forno).

> The history of chicken and the different types of chicken: a photo glossary.

> The different types of pasta: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 20 pasta holidays.

> The year’s 40 chicken holidays.

> The year’s 58 Italian food holidays.
 
 
RECIPE: CHICKEN PARMESAN “LASAGNA”

Ingredients For 8 Servings

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 3-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.

2. BRING a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile…

3. HEAT the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the onion is softened and fragrant.

4. ADD the tomato purée and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the chicken and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is thickened slightly and the chicken is just cooked through. Stir in the fresh basil and season generously with salt and pepper. Meanwhile…

5. COOK the pasta in boiling water until it is not quite al dente (subtract 2-3 minutes from the cooking time listed on the package). Reserve a cup of the pasta water before draining the pasta.
 
6. USE a large slotted spoon to strain pasta and transfer it to the sauce. Add a few splashes of pasta water and stir until the pasta is evenly coated with sauce.

7. TRANSFER half of the pasta to the prepared casserole dish, spreading it into an even layer. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan cheese. Top with the remaining pasta, followed by the rest of the cheese.

8. SPRINKLE with the breadcrumbs and Italian herb seasoning. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the pasta is heated through*. If desired, broil for 2 to 3 minutes at the very end until the cheese is browned in spots. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
 

[4] Chicken Parm Lasagna (Abacus Photo).
 
 
THE HISTORY OF CHICKEN PARMESAN

If you ask for “Pollo alla Parmigiana” in Italy, you will likely get a confused look. If it exists at all, it’s usually in tourist-heavy areas catering to Americans. In Italy, “Parmigiana” almost exclusively refers to the eggplant dish.

Chicken Parmesan (or Chicken Parmigiana) is a classic Italian-American creation. While it has deep Italian roots, the dish as we know it—a breaded chicken cutlet smothered in marinara sauce and melted mozzarella—is a product of the immigrant experience in the United States.
 
The Italian Ancestor: Melanzane alla Parmigiana

The true Italian parmigiana is Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana), which hails from Southern Italy (the regions of Campania and Sicily). As with the American version, it’s a layered dish of fried eggplant slices, tomato sauce, and cheese.

In Italy, it’s often served at room temperature as a side or a starter. It is rarely breaded and never served over spaghetti.
 
America Brings On The Meat

When Italian immigrants arrived in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they found that meat was significantly cheaper and more available than it had been in the Old Country.

They began substituting the humble eggplant with veal (Veal Parmigiana) and eventually chicken, which was even more affordable.

And yes, Eggplant Parmesan still had a place on the Italian-American table.

But the Italian-American versions became much more robust than the Italian eggplant dish.

 
Chicken Parm didn’t really hit the mainstream until the 1950, when it started to appear in Italian-American cookbooks and on restaurant menus.

By the 1960s, it was a staple of “red sauce” Italian restaurants and eventually became widely available as a frozen dinner.
 

[5] Italian-American Chicken Parmesan (Freepik Photo).
 
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*If your pasta was cool or cold when you put it in the oven—for example, if you made the pasta ahead of time and refrigerated it overnight—it will likely need more time.

†National Chicken Parmesan Day is listed on two different dates: April 19th and March 11th. April 19th was declared by Romano’s Macaroni Grill in 2017, tied to the restaurant’s birthday on that date. March 11th is also widely circulated online as National Chicken Parm Day (“Chicken Parm” rather than the full “Chicken Parmesan”). National Chicken Parm Day does not have a clear founding event—it just seems to have shown up on lists around 2020. But if you love Chicken Parm, you don’t need an excuse to celebrate it again.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

September 18th was National Cheeseburger Day. It inspired us to create this history of the cheese that tops more cheeseburgers than any other: American cheese.

But is American cheese “real” cheese? Not in the sense that blue, cheddar, Swiss and other cheeses are.

It is made from milk, but not with the traditional cheese-making process of separating curds from whey and then packing the curds into a block.

Instead, it is made by by processing cheese trimmings with emulsifiers, salt, and coloring, classified by the USDA as “processed cheese.”
 
 
WHAT IS PROCESSED CHEESE?

 
 
THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN CHEESE

British colonists arrived in America with a preference for cheddar cheese. In the New World, before the advent of commercial producers, a basic cheese was made at home.

The first cheese factory in the U.S., founded in 1851 in New York, made cheese that anyone could buy—thus saving the housewife the labor of making cheese.

The proprietor, Jesse Williams, purchased milk from local herds and pooled it to make cheese. Other cheese-makers followed suit.

Soon, generic, factory*-made cheddar became common throughout the country.

Terminology evolved such that many Americans simply called this type of cheddar “store cheese” or “yellow cheese.”
 
How American Cheese Got Its Name

These early colonial cheddars weren’t as tasty as fine English cheddars, but they were so cheap that they could be shipped to England and sold for a profit.

By 1878, Americans were exporting more than 300 million pounds of cheese to England each year.

British consumers didn’t think much of the quality of the “Yankee cheddar” or “American cheese,” but it sold well due to its low price [source].
 
The Dawn Of Modern American Cheese

In 1916 James L. Kraft, a cheddar cheese wholesaler in Chicago, patented a process to reduce waste of leftover pieces of cheese.

He shredded the cheddar, re-pasteurized it through heating, and added some sodium phosphate as an emulsifier.

The resulting product was cheaper than cheddar, with a longer shelf life—and, may we add, far less flavorful, and made from inferior cheese.

But money talks, and it sold well. By 1930 Kraft cheese represented 40% of cheese consumed in the U.S. [source].

The name “American cheese” gradually came to refer to Kraft’s processed cheese [source].

Hand-sliced at the store, the cheese slices would vary in thickness, dryness, etc. It took 15 years to figure out how to slice the rectangular bricks of cheese into individual slices (not as easy as it sounds—read the story here).

But in 1950, Kraft De Luxe Process Slices, eight square slices sized for a piece of bread, debuted. They became a go-to for burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheese omelets and more.

However, it was not an ideal solution. The it was typically difficult to peel the slices apart without tearing them.

In 1956, an outside inventor patented machinery to create individually-wrapped slices of cheese. Kraft created a similar technology, and Kraft Singles were introduced in 1965 (source).
 
Velveeta & Cheez Whiz

Velveeta is a processed cheese product that tastes like American cheese, but softer and spreadable.

Invented in 1916, it was sold to Kraft in 1927. Customers love its meltability.

[1] American cheese has always been made in a block. It was sliced in the store before the advent of packaged slices. It is a favorite for grilled cheese sandwiches because of its meltability (photo © Boarshead).

[2] The vast majority of cheeseburgers use American cheese (photo © Smokey Bones Restaurant | Aventura, FL).

[3] Philly Cheesesteak. Here’s the recipe from Taste Of Home (photo © Taste Of Home).

[4] While we prefer cheddar on our nachos, American cheese has superior meltability. Velveeta and Cheez Whiz are the preferred solution for many (photo © Rick’s Picks).

[5] Breakfast biscuits. Here’s the recipe from Taste Of Home (photo © Taste Of Home).

Cheez Whiz, classified as a cheese sauce or spread, is made of whey (a protein byproduct of milk), oil, sodium-heavy flavorings, and colorants and emulsifiers that make it bright yellow and shelf-stable.
 
 
AMERICAN CHEESE MONTH

October is American Cheese Month, but it doesn’t celebrate the American cheese in this article.

Instead, it celebrates the fine artisan cheeses made by American cheesemakers. Here’s more about it.
_________________

*Here, “factory” does not refer to today’s massed-produced cheeses, but to cheese still handmade, but in larger batches.

[1] A bowl of Kamut grains. Here’s how to cook it from Vegan Lovlie (photo © Vegan Lovlie).

[2] A close up of the grains, three times the size of conventional wheat grains (photo © Purcell Mountain Farms).

[3] Cooked Kamut grains (photo © Vegan Lovlie).

[4] Kracklin Kamut, our Top Pick Of The Week (photo © Kracklin Kamut).

[5] Butternut squash and kamut gratin. Here’s the recipe from Vegan Lovlie (photo © Vegan Lovlie).

[6] Kamut salad with blood oranges, toasted almonds and parsley. Here’s the recipe from Well And Full (photo © Well And Full).

Have you heard of Kamut (kah-MOOT)? If so, do you know what it is?

Kamut® is a trademarked brand of khorasan wheat, one of those better-for-you ancient grains you read about.

Originally from the Fertile Crescent, Kamut khorasan wheat is grown in the U.S. on certified organic farms, primarily in Montana and other northern Great Plains of the U.S.

It is a whole grain.

Our Top Pick Of The Week is Kracklin Kamut, one of many products with the grain.

You can jump to our review below, or first discover more about Kamut wheat.
 
 
WHAT IS KAMUT (KHORASAN WHEAT)?

Kamut is an ancient relative of modern durum wheat, a hard amber spring-type wheat.

 
The Kamut brand is the original grain as it was cultivated from the wild, un-altered by breeding and hybridizing.

As an important note, many, if not most, of agricultural products have been bred and re-bred since ancient times.

This is done to produce versions that have higher yields, are disease- and weather-resistant, and/or grow better in different climates.

In the process, flavor, nutrition and other features are sacrificed.

With Kamut, you know you have the real deal, the true ancient grain: nutritious, ancient wheat with a rich, buttery flavor and firm texture (photo # 1).

The Kamut brand of khorasan is guaranteed to never be hybridized or genetically modified. It is always organically grown.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF KAMUT

Khorasan-type wheats originated in the Fertile Crescent, in what is now Mesopotamia. The Quinns coined the trade name “Kamut” an ancient Egyptian word for wheat. Egyptologists claim the root meaning of Kamut is “Soul of the Earth.”

Although the Kamut brand wheat is thousands of years old, it was off the radar for a few thousand years. Its resurrection sounds like a tall tale (and in fact it likely is, according to Bob Quinn, founder of Kamut International, the largest grower of khorasan wheat which he branded as Kamut®.

Following World War II, a U.S. airman claimed to have taken a handful of grains from a stone box in a tomb near Dashare, Egypt.

Thirty-six kernels of the grain were given to a friend who mailed them to his father, a Montana wheat farmer. The farmer planted and harvested a small crop and displayed the grain as a novelty at the local fair.

Believing the legend that the giant grain kernels were taken from an Egyptian tomb, the grain was dubbed “King Tut’s Wheat” (source).

But soon after, the ancient grain was again all but forgotten.

[Farmers in Turkey call the grain “Camel’s Tooth” because of its shape, or the “Prophet’s Wheat,” referring to another legend that Noah brought the grain with him on the ark. Beyond the tomb tale, the grain may in fact have existed in small pockets in Mesopotamia.]

Here’s what Bob Quinn calls the more likely story: In 1977, one remaining jar of “King Tut’s Wheat” was obtained by T. Mack Quinn, another Montana wheat farmer—we don’t know from where. He and his son Bob, an agricultural scientist and plant biochemist, soon perceived the value of the unique grain.

They spent the next decade propagating some of the humped-backed kernels selected from the small jar. Their research revealed that wheats of this type originated in the Fertile Crescent.

The Quinns coined the brand name “Kamut,” an ancient Egyptian word for wheat. Egyptologists say the root meaning of Kamut is “soul of the Earth.”

In 1990, the USDA recognized the grain as a protected variety. The Quinns also registered Kamut as a trademark.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the introduction and cultivation of Kamut brand wheat is that it is an important new crop for sustainable agriculture. This grain’s ability to produce high quality without artificial fertilizers and pesticides make it an excellent crop for organic farming (source).
 
 
KRACKLIN KAMUT: TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

When you roast Kamut kernels, you get Kracklin Kamut: a most delightful, crunchy, flavorful, satisfying snack.

Made in small batches with Montana-grown Kamut and organic, cold-pressed, hi-oleic safflower oil†. It is lightly seasoned with sea salt from ancient caves in Utah (from a sea that evaporated millions of years ago).

Like crunchy corn nuts, we enjoy it as a grab-and-go snack, but this simple, clean roasted grain is delicious on salads—green and fruit—on vegetables, rice and grains.

A 1.5-ounce pack has 200 calories, 7 grams of fat, 6 grams of protein and no cholesterol, trans fat or sugar. The product is also USDA organic and non-GMO.

It’s available at natural food stores and online. Learn more about it at KracklinKamut.com.
 
 
MORE KAMUT PRODUCTS

Because of its higher nutrition, you can now find Kamut in dozens of products, from baby’s and children’s food and breakfast cereals cold and hot, to energy bars and snacks.

Kamut can be found in cereals, breads, cookies, snacks, waffles, pancakes, bread mixes, baked goods, and prepared and frozen meals.

Because of the inherent sweetness of the grain (referred to by some as “the sweet wheat”), no added sugar is required to hide the subtle bitterness associated with most wheats and whole wheat products.
 
 
HOW TO SERVE KAMUT

The natural firmness of the cooked kernels lend themselves to:

You can see a list of Kamut products here.

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*Trace amounts of selenium are necessary for cellular function in. It is an ingredient in many multivitamins, other dietary supplements, and infant formula.

†High oleic safflower oil is a healthy alternative to saturated or hydrogenated oils. A naturally occurring liquid vegetable oil, it is not chemically modified. It has a neutral flavor and odor.