Novelty or necessity? Our verdict on Melbourne's new lasagne pocket sandwiches

The Age

6 days ago

The creator has never seen anything like them in Italy and they're billed as 'Australia's first lasagne sandwich'. But does Melbourne need pasta you can eat with your hands?
One of Melbourne's few dedicated lasagne restaurants, Lasagna Lab in Windsor, has opened a second location, right across from Queen Victoria Market in West Melbourne. Of course, there are slabs of the lasagne it's built its name on since 2020. But there's also the tasca: essentially a lasagne pocket, which the team is billing as 'Australia's first lasagne sandwich'.
While we've eaten lasagne-in-bread sangers before, these are wrapped up in the same kind of pasta sheets used in the lasagne itself.
Chef-owner Mattia Aloisio says he hasn't seen anything like them in Italy. 'I came up with this idea because I wanted to have the lasagne eaten like a sandwich … if you are walking down the street, at the park, in the car.'
Melbourne loves pasta almost as much as it loves sandwiches, so Good Food sent two writers to taste-test a few of Lasagna Lab's lasagne pockets.
First impressions
Daniela Frangos: I'll admit I'm apprehensive. Can we improve upon the classic lasagne? My Italian genes urge me to respect tradition. The plates arrive and the pockets are far bigger than I expected, and well filled. You could definitely share a couple between two (evinced by the hashtag #Let'sLasagnaTogether written on the blackboard out front).
Tomas Telegramma: I've consumed a lot of pasta in my life, but never in a handheld context like this. They don't immediately scream 'lasagne'. Each is like one big rectangular raviolo, crimped edges included, but cut in half and propped up like a burrito. It's blonder than I expected, but if it were any crisper, it would likely crack, causing a blowout.
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The eating experience
DF: I was bracing for mess but the pockets hold their structure surprisingly well, making this a legit vessel for transporting saucy, cheesy fillings – particularly handy if you want to browse the nearby market. The fried pasta sheets are almost a cross between crostoli (crisp-fried Italian pastry) and wonton wrappers, and add an even more decadent element to the lasagne experience.
TT: I've had countless sandwiches and wraps far messier to eat than these pockets. But just because you could feasibly eat one while on the go, I'm not sure you'd want to. (A tip: oil-slicked fingertips are impossible to avoid, so stock up on napkins.)
The fillings
Our writers try three of the four pockets on offer, ranging from unlikely (seafood) to classic.
Salmon and prawn ($18)
DF: Seafood and cheese? Some will disagree; I'm all for it. The first bite is all lemon and chives and stringy mozzarella before you hit prawns and Ora King salmon in creamy bechamel. The filling needs more cohesion for me.
TT: The garnish of crumbled macadamias throws me from the get-go and the confusion continues. I expected pasta layers within, but there are none. (There aren't meant to be, Aloisio later confirms.) The richness calls for more lemon.
Pork and fennel sausage ($17)
DF: This is the one I'm most looking forward to (hello ragu and smoky scamorza cheese) but it's a little oily for my liking. Combined with deep-fried pasta, it needs some acidity or freshness, which we get only a touch of from the radicchio.
TT: Melty scamorza makes for an inches-long cheese pull and brings a slight smokiness. But overall this is a little one-note, especially given the pickled radicchio on top is not at all bitter.
Bolognese ($16)
DF: The most popular choice, and for good reason. Sugo plus wagyu and stringy mozzarella is everything you want from lasagne. The silky pasta sheets inside are also well-defined here – and conspicuously absent from the other two pockets, suddenly making me question their validity as lasagne …
TT: The undisputed MVP (most valuable pocket), this is Lasagna Lab's signature item – packed into a parcel – and it shows. Tender pasta sheets hold their form, swirled throughout clusters of minced wagyu and classic sugo.
Would I return?
DF: At $16 the bolognese pocket is a steal – and cheaper than the average sandwich. But I prefer the silkiness of a baked lasagne over the deep-fried version here. I'm more likely to return for that wagyu bolognese folded between luxurious pasta sheets.
TT: I've done my dash with the pockets, but I'll be back for that winter-warming wagyu bolognese lasagne in its regular form.