If there's Lasagna, I'm going to eat it.

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I don't have an issue with the meat in the lasagna, but the pasta itself. Has lots of additional calories I would've to burn thru.

Thanks for the insight into lasagne on the otherside of the pond. I've just searched on google images and I can see why they're called noodles now! I think I've seen them in a supermarket, but overwhelmingly it's the wider and completely flat sheets that you get here. You can get fresh lasagne sheets in supermarkets as well but I don't bother with those as they can be a bit of a faff and also they don't keep if you buy too much. Pre-packaged fresh pasta is quite a big thing over here and most supermarkets will stock a good variety. This is despite it not being very traditionally Italian, as I understand it.

It's pub food, which is effectively "x and chips" (chips being thick fries, of course...)

order of lasagna
 

pasta, meat sauce, cheese, bechamel

repeat.

The only lasagna I really like is my own.
1) olive oil in the bottom of a heavy deep roasting dish- not a glass baking dish
2) good quality dried (flat) lasagna noodles boiled till just a bit soft in heavily salted water with a bit of olive oil, drained and laid flat (the olive oil in the cooking water will prevent sticking)
3) mixture of good whole milk ricotta, freshly grated granna (no need to use Reggianno in this- just make sure it is good quality granna and grate it fresh) and freshly grated whole milk Mozzarella (I like Polly-O or Trader Joe's but it MUST be whole milk and not the packaged pre-shredded stuff) mixed with egg, parsley, fresh ground pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and some nutmeg
4) Bolognese sauce
5) Mornay sauce made with freshly grated granna
6) lots of freshly grated granna (and you can use the good stuff here) for topping

Layer as you like-but the pasta goes down first in the prepped roasting pan and a good layer of the Mornay sauce is the top layer.

Cover pan with parchment and foil

It goes IMMEDIATELY into a preheated oven- no letting it sit about

When almost done uncover, sprinkle with granna and raise the heat to get a nice top crust . let rest a bit (but only a bit- 20 minutes max) out of the oven. And serve.

Yes- it is a LOT of work and it is expensive. But I only make it once or twice a year. It is a celebratory dish rather than a cheap easy meal.

The mornay sauce is a good point rather than a strict béchamel. I use a strong cheddar over here, not authentic but I like the flavour. Then a generous grating of Parmesan over the final mornay layer. As per the previous poster, I don't make lasagne often, but when I do I like to make it with a sauce and bolognaise from scratch.

What are people's thoughts on nutmeg? I add a generous amount to the mornay sauce and over the top of the finished dish before it goes in the oven. I like the background fragrance it gives.

Yes on the nutmeg- preferably freshly grated. And a good really aged English Cheddar (such as a bandaged Neal"s Yard Cheddar-which I love) would be an okay substitution. This is totally different than most cheddar Americans buy.

It's a lovely cheese, but why waste it in a lasagne?

I prefer it at room temperature with a glass of something nice and a tart apple.

Nutmeg is essential when making a spinach lasagna. @:-)

I HATE nutmeg, so no, I don't want it. Then again I hate spinach too so probably wouldn't make a spinach lasagne to begin with.

Good lasagne needs to be cooked, cooled and sit for a day, and then reheated.

Agree about cooling and reheating (slowly). Everything sets nicely and less likely to fall apart.

I really only like it when it is fresh out of the oven (after resting a bit to settle) but being as there are usually left overs I will eat it again.
Being single I do not cook like this very often and this is a dish I only make for people I like/love. Folks make a big deal out of a standing rip roast or a whole roast turkey- those are easy! A dish like this takes time and care and you have to know what you are doing if you are going to make it right.

Unfortunately I have discovered that lasagne freezes awfully well, meaning I can make a pan of it and have 8 lunches for the next few weeks. My waistline has been paying the price.

Made lasagna today. Glad to see people think it's better upon reheating, because it took so long to make that I had to eat lunch in the middle of the process, and now I'm not hungry at all. I look forward to having lasagna for dinner and freezing the rest in portions for future meals.

I doctored up a large jar of Victoria tomato sauce (too acidic for my taste on its own; added a dash of baking soda, salt, pepper, sugar, Italian seasoning, parsley, a spoonful of concentrated beef broth base, white wine, and a slug of half & half)...

and I doctored up a tub of ricotta cheese (two beaten eggs, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, parsley, a slug of half & half) ...

and, persuaded by previous posts, I gave up my idea of tomato sauce only/ricotta sauce only layers, and went with a sequence of tomato sauce/pasta/ricotta, tomato sauce/pasta/ricotta, etc. Topped it with tomato sauce and generous sprinkling of a grated Italian cheese mix and a last dash of Italian seasoning.

Covered with foil, 35 minutes in the oven at 375 deg F, removed foil, turned oven up to 450 deg F, 10 more minutes.

Oh, forgot to mention I used Barilla no-boil noodles, five layers, I think.

It looks fantastic. I'll find out at dinner if it tastes fantastic; I'm optimistic.

Another factor - having seen a telly programme last night that was trying out using kelp in place of pasta for lasagne sheets (verdict: tasty but chewy) - what are people's preferences on the sauce thickness.

The lasagne presented was sloppy - a fairly liquid bechamel and fairly liquid ragu combining as a leaky pink mess. IMO, it should be able to stand on its "own two feet" as it were. What say the jury?

Thick sauce. Not too thick so as to be a paste, but thick enough that it doesn't run out of the lasagna.

Since the pasta absorbs much of the liquid using kelp would require adjusting the sturdiness of the filling. Also since the actual name "Lasagna" refers to a pasta product it should be called Kelp Casserole or Kelp Strata

Yeah, I file it up there with cauliflower couscous or courgette spaghetti (aka courgetti).

I have, however, seen plenty sloppy lasagne in my time, with kelp nowhere near them.

Yes, a certain solidity is expected of the dish.

Exactamente. And let the whole casserole (not just the thing
with a square or two taken out of it) set for several hours
before cutting into it.

It shouldn't happen in the first place, but if it must, changing the
consistency of the sauce and the filling would be mandatory. And
it should in fact be called "coastal-style lasagne-type abomination"
or something like that.

Yes I agree on the 'solidity' of the lasgane. You should be able to eat it from a plate rather than needing a bowl. I find this requires it being left to rest for a couple of hours (at least) once it's been cooked, then reheated if needed. If I don't let it rest and try and take a portion too soon the lasagne and the portion collapse, v unsatisfactory!

1.) Sauce, with as little meat as possible to coat the bottom of the pan.
2.) Noodles (I'm partial to the obviously hated wavy ones, cooked just short of al dente)
3.) Globs of whole milk ricotta, spread over the noodles as best as possible
4.) Meat sauce (made with half ground beef, half spicy italian sausage)
5.) Diced eggs
6.) Whole milk mozzarella, generous amounts
7.) Sprinkle of parmesan
8.) Repeat with 3 more layers following the same plan.
9.) Top layer does not contain egg or ricotta, but has generous amounts of mozzarella
10.) Sprinkle generously with parmesan
11.) Bake until the cheese is brown and the corners are crunchy (my favorite part.)

My lasagna probably weighs 6lbs.

Ooh, I like the idea of spicy sausage. A bit of 'nduja in the ragu would go down a treat.

I'm curious about the diced eggs. Did this come from a recipe or something you added on your own and liked it?

Turns out that there's a raging debate about whether or not to "egg" your lasagna.

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtop...f=23&t=1131878

Never head of eggs in a lasagne. Though I suppose it might work. Maybe more with sausage than hamburg though. How much egg? Like, a layer, or just enough to add a little texture.

Then again I am likely to not make it. Had to through out half a dozen eggs I failed to boil correctly this evening.

I use an egg mixed in with the ricotta.

Right. But this seems to be chopped cooked eggs not raw mixed with the cheese.

Yuck!

It's how my Grandma made it, so just following family tradition. All my friends love it.

A hearty sprinkle of it per layer. I don't add a ton of it, but use just over half a dozen for the whole pan.

The spicy sausage is key to me!

I've had too many lasagnas, including too many that I made myself, that were "a leaky pink mess," so I definitely favor a sturdy, stand-up lasagna. However, I think I went a bit too far in that direction with my latest batch (which had five pasta layers); it was a bit dry, and I wish I'd used more sauce. Better luck next time, I hope.

I usually only go three or four. If you go above that, you end up eating it sideways anyways, so what is the point?

My mother's recipe calls for the same, two in fact.

Lasagna is a major point of dissension between my wife and I. I prefer layers of pasta/ragu/mornay sauce, but her family have always added cottage cheese. The result is rather strange, but not entirely unpleasant. I believe in her families case it comes from the Welsh valleys where Italian immigrants (mostly running the local ice cream parlors from what I understand) couldn't get mozzarella to add to their lasagna and made do with the closest local cheese they could find. Their neighbours thought that was how authentic lasagna was supposed to be made.

There is a separate story to be told about the time her mother accidentally bought cottage cheese with pineapple chunks in ti and decided to go ahead with the lasagna anyway!

It takes about 5 easily-obtainable ingredients and about an hour to make fresh mozzarella at home. :eek:

I would think that cottage cheese is closest to ricotta. Well, to be honest, cottage cheese very well could be ricotta depending on how authentic you are talking about the ricotta. Cottage cheese in the US really is the same recipe, only they leave the curds larger and add cream at the end. But cottage cheese varies from country to country.

And if you think Mozzarella is easy, you can do homemade ricotta with just milk and vinegar or lemon juice. Tastes incredible, but super high in lactose if you are lactose intolerant.

I'm from the UK (not the Welsh valleys to be fair) and I've never heard of cottage cheese in lasagne before this thread. It's certainly not in any recipes I see here.

They are a strange lot in Wales though, so who knows :D

For the sake of clarity... "Cottage cheese" in the UK normally means large (i.e. lumpy) curd cheese (and hence low acid). "Curd cheese" comes in various forms, including ricotta (although this is strictly a "whey cheese"), mostly in Northern England, and tends to be small curd (so a smooth consistency) with an acidic tang. German-style Quark is also becoming more popular over here.

(If you've never had a Yorkshire curd tart, made from small curd cheese, with lemon curd, currants and spices, then I urge you to try one if you happen upon it, it's a delicious thing!)

I have to disagree. Lasagne is one of my 'oh heck, unexpected people' dishes (as is a roast chicken). I typically make 2 of them, one meat based and one veggie based (as I don't eat meat), and it is really quick to whip up a meat sauce, a white sauce (or ricotta with egg and herbs) and stack it up. I sometimes make the veggie one in a meat style (meaning I use a ground veggie protein with tomato to make a ragu) and sometimes I just use veggies. Then all you really need is a crisp green salad.

I also occasionally make a baked gnocci, which is essentially the same ingredients, minus the pasta, without the layering (and it cooks quicker).

It's lovely to not have to spend time in the kitchen when you have people over, and you can just throw them in to cook and not have to worry about them until the pinger goes!

I'd assumed it was some weird family thing, but then happened to see a BBC Saturday Kitchen where a chef with a Welsh connection mentioned using cottage cheese.

Thanks stut, I should have made that point myself. UK Cottage cheese is pretty different to anything I've encountered in Italy.

Goodness me, I'd forgotten all about Yorkshire curd tarts, despite being a born-and-bred Yorkshireman. I wonder if I can source one in New York or if I'm going to have to look for a recipe.

I have the Betty's recipe somewhere. The key things are that you have a savoury pastry (no pate sucree please, this is Yorkshire), no need to blind bake. Line the pastry with the lemon curd. Then you basically make a small cake batter to bind, then add in the curds (ricotta works just fine), currants, cinnamon and nutmeg (to taste - which in my case is always 'generous'). Bake. Enjoy. Glass of Chateau de Chasselas optional.

Knocks a cheesecake into a cocked hat.

Ta stut, I might give it a go this weekend. Although I think the only possible drink to accompany is a strong mug of Yorkshire tea!