Originally Posted by
krispy84
I'm in the bechamel camp myself. Genuinely interesting thread, I've never heard of ricotta (or even cottage cheese!) in a standard meat lasagne.
Quick question from a confused Brit, why is the pasta referred to as noodles? (I'm assuming everyone is talking about the iPhone Plus / A5 sized pasta sheets)
Italian-American Lasagne noodles are 3/12-4in wide flat pasta with curly edges.
The term Lasagne is used for both the noodle and the dish. I did not realize there was such a difference in what is called Lasagne here and across the pond until I started digging into this. I think you can find the large flat sheets of pasta at specialty shops, but lasagne in America anyways is seen as more of a homestyle comfort food, and specialty food kind of don't fit it's image.
Keep in mind ricotta itself is different over here. For us it comes in containers like oversized yogurt tubs. Yes you can find real ricotta too now, but most people automatically thin the stuff in tubs. That may be why it is viewed more as a special dish in Europe and a home style dish in the US.