The Umami Ingredient You Need To Start Adding To Lasagna

There are lots of ingredients that boost a homemade lasagna — but if you've never tried adding some miso paste, you're missing out on a super savory treat. While you probably wouldn't be able to specifically identify miso in the final product, the fermented soybean paste brings an additional depth of umami flavor to the classic pasta dish, enhancing the taste of the other ingredients. And it's incredibly easy to incorporate into your favorite recipe.

As well as adding delicious savoriness, miso amplifies the natural sweetness of the tomatoes in the meaty ragu for lasagna, softening any harsh acidic notes. You only need a tablespoon of the paste for roughly each can of tomatoes or sauce you're using. Go for white miso, which is milder than red, and won't overly dominate the flavor. In addition to making the tomatoes taste like they've been slow-roasted, the paste adds a deliciously caramelized flavor to the onions, too. For a lighter-tasting dish, if you prefer not to use tomatoes, you could add miso paste to some chicken broth or stock, and use that to simmer with the ground beef and vegetable mixture. 

Miso is perfect for adding savory intensity to meat-free lasagna recipes, too — and mushrooms, with their complementary umami-rich earthiness, are a perfect match. Just stir a little paste into a thinly sliced selection as they soften in a pan with chopped shallots, add coconut water or vegetable stock, and reduce the liquid to make a rich filling.

Beyond lasagna, miso paste's affinity with tomatoes means it goes brilliantly in many tomato-based sauces for pasta, such as pomodoro — the ideal tomato sauce for lazy cooks. It makes a great substitute for anchovies in tomato sauce recipes that call for them, offering a similar umami-rich saltiness. Try it in a spaghetti bolognese for a richer result, or you could even add it to a homemade hearty lasagna soup to enhance the flavor of the canned tomatoes.

Creamy sauces can also be easily elevated with miso. Try adding a couple of tablespoons to a béchamel sauce — it could either be used in a lasagna recipe, or to make a robustly flavorful mac and cheese. You could whisk the paste into the egg mixture for a rich miso carbonara. Or just mix two or three tablespoons of miso with melted butter and some of the reserved water you've cooked pasta in. Once you've tossed in the cooked pasta and some Parmigiano-Reggiano or parmesan, it will turn into a silky savory sauce.

Combining contrasting elements can produce thrilling results for dairy-free dishes, too. Pair earthy miso with bright zesty lemon juice and creamy coconut milk for a simple yet satisfying pasta sauce. Or use the paste to accentuate the natural sweetness of root vegetables. Blitzing slow-roasted butternut squash and caramelized roasted garlic with red miso produces a complex-tasting and colorful sauce for pasta, for example.