by Hillary Dixler

Since adding the impressive, labor-intensive Yesterday's 100 Layer Lasagne to the menu at Mario Batali's acclaimed New York City restaurant Del Posto in 2009, executive chef Mark Ladner has never stopped refining it. His unlikely inspiration for the restaurant's now-famous dish was the beloved Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, The Princess and the Pea.

Ladner wanted to create a dish inspired by the story for a party Batali was throwing, and created a layered lasagne with a single dried pea. He found that 20 layers weren't "impressive in terms of size," and realized that it took 100 layers to fill the form. Wanting a baked pasta dish on the Del Posto menu, Ladner kept working at it. The lasagne has evolved quite a bit since that initial preparation, both in its idea and execution.

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Source: http://eater.com/