How do you make your lasagna?

[mrsstats79]

I follow the recipe on the Ronzoni box

 

[fla4fun]

Now you know what to add to your 2021 holiday stocking/secret Santa wish list: an offset spatula or pancake turner!

I have a lot of different spatulas, but most of them are for non stick pans, so no edge. I have one metal one with a slight edge that will cut through most of the layers, but never seems to cut through the bottom layer. My lasagna dish is ceramic, not metal or non stick finish, so a good metal spatula should work. I have two dishes, one is half the size of the other, and it depends on how much I am making which dish is used.

 

[mjkacmom]

My favorite is my zucchini lasagna with smoked gouda. I usually look at variations of the recipe online and just go with what sounds good that day.

I make my lasagna with zucchini a lot (have one with celiac). I grill it to get rid

 

[ronandannette]

Just as a counter-balance to all these lovingly crafted, amazing-sounding multi-stage recipes, I'm going to throw out a little something I call Skillet Lasagna:

• Brown a quantity of ground beef or uncased sweet Italian sausage in a very large skillet.
• Drain and add in fresh garlic and onion, season with salt, pepper and Italian herb mix; cook until the onions are soft.
• Stir in one jar of the best quality prepared sauce you can find (I use Newman's Sockeroni) and spinach, pepper, mushrooms, etc. if you like them.
• Stir in 2 cups of mafalde (mini lasagna noodles) or the broadest egg noodles you can find (I love No Yolks Dumplings). Mix well and fill the pan to the top with water. Cook until the noodles are right, adding more water if necessary but you don't want the finished dish to be too loose.
• Just before serving stir in 1 container drained cottage cheese (yep - I said it) and 1/4 cup parmesan. Adjust seasonings and top generously with Italian Blend shredded cheese and cover over low heat to let the cheese melt.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I used to follow a rather elaborate recipe for slow-cooking the sauce, making a béchamel, blah, blah, blah. Then one day, I came across the Red Cross Lasagna recipe (from Red Cross pasta, which is now out of business, I think). I made it once and have continued to make it every time. The family loves it and it is so much less work, plus, I double the sauce and put half in the freezer, frozen flat, in a zip-top bag. I also grate extra of the cheeses (parmesan and mozzarella) and put them in the freezer as well. The next time I want to make lasagna, I just purchase a container of cottage cheese and then assemble it without all of the fuss. Freezing just the sauce and cheese flat takes up much less space than a fully assembled lasagna. The worst part of making it is the spattery sauce, so getting that out of the way makes the rest a breeze.

Red Cross Lasagna

Thank you for sharing! We made this one tonight. It came out pretty good, and wasn’t runny at all, which usually happens when I make lasagna.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I don't consider lasagna my best dish, but I have a few hints:

- In the ricotta vs. cottage cheese debate, I come down solidly on the side of ricotta. Why? Because ricotta is more solid, which makes a lasagna that will stand up better. YES!!!!!
- Sausage instead of ground beef -- more flavorful. I use both.
- Don't cook the noodles quite all the way through -- so they won't be mushy at the end. OH yes!!!!!
- Yes to spinach, but it should be chopped well. Not a big cooked spinach person, so I can skip this.
- Parsley brings in a "bright" flavor. I dont' use this either. I use more basil and oregano.
- Don't go too heavy on any particular portion -- lasagna is about all those delicious layers melding together; you don't want any one portion to try to be the star. Too much meat or too much cheese can throw off the proportions. Even layers, just lots of them!!!
- Lasagna always seems to be better the second day. Yes....yes....yes....

Once I made Valerie Bertinelli's lasagna, which used Bechamel Sauce, and it was fabulous - but a little different.
Once I made a seafood lasagna, and that was seriously disgusting.

Ricotta + Mozz + Parm or Asiago mixed with egg, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and some aleppo pepper flakes (more flavor than regular pepper flakes, and comparable heat)
Barely cooked noodles
Italian sausage and ground beef, in my mom's sauce (it takes forever to make, but it's worth it)...extra sauce on the side for passing.


And now...I want lasagna. Dang it.

 

[fla4fun]

And now...I want lasagna. Dang it.

Me too, and I just finished eating mine on Saturday!

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I've been using the Betty Crocker recipe for my entire adult life and it was passed to me from my mom.
My mom added an egg to the ricotta and parmasian cheese mixture. Along the years I decided to always have a jar of our favorite red sauce on hand to heat up and add on the plated lasagna because my husband loves a lot of sauce. Noodles, wet ricotta cheese layer, Italian shredded cheese blend layer, sauce, repeat and repeat

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm shocked at all the cottage cheese answers. I've never ever heard of lasagna with cottage cheese in it. I grew up being "raised" by my mom's Sicilian family. They only used ricotta.

Anyway... your standard here... cook the noodles a bit al dente, ricotta with egg, romano and salt and pepper, mozz, home made sauce (sometimes meat sauce, sometimes not) , layer and presto.
[snip]

I got the basis of my recipe from the wife of a retired Sicilian-American cop -- in New Orleans, 35 years ago.

That family, like so very many other Italian-Americans living in communities where they were a minority, learned to use substitutes for Italian ingredients that they could not get where they were. Believe it or not, as late as the 1960's, ricotta was quite exotic in most of America, and in most places that did not have large Italian-American populations (and even some that did!) it was not commonly available in ordinary supermarkets. Cottage was the most commonly available near substitute, though as you have seen, it normally needs a bit of manipulation to successfully sub in for ricotta in lasagna.

I remember well that even cottage cheese wasn't that easy to source in southern Mississippi until the publication of the Dr. Atkins diet cookbook in 1972. My aunt in NYC sent my mother an early copy, and at first she had real trouble finding a lot of the ingredients. As the diet grew in popularity that year, more of those items started showing up in our local supermarket chains.

 

[firefly_ris]

I got the basis of my recipe from the wife of a retired Sicilian-American cop -- in New Orleans, 35 years ago.

That family, like so very many other Italian-Americans living in communities where they were a minority, learned to use substitutes for Italian ingredients that they could not get where they were. Believe it or not, as late as the 1960's, ricotta was quite exotic in most of America, and in most places that did not have large Italian-American populations (and even some that did!) it was not commonly available in ordinary supermarkets. Cottage was the most commonly available near substitute, though as you have seen, it normally needs a bit of manipulation to successfully sub in for ricotta in lasagna.

I remember well that even cottage cheese wasn't that easy to source in southern Mississippi until the publication of the Dr. Atkins diet cookbook in 1972. My aunt in NYC sent my mother an early copy, and at first she had real trouble finding a lot of the ingredients. As the diet grew in popularity that year, more of those items started showing up in our local supermarket chains.

I believe it and that makes sense. We were from Baltimore and so no shortage of ricotta to be found there. I just personally dislike everything about cottage cheese from taste to texture so I could not personally use it as a substitute. Maybe if I were raised on it I could do it.

 

[klacey1]

OP here. This thread has been just as helpful and fascinating as I hoped!

I am thinking my sauce consistency may have something to do with my distinctly “meh” lasagna over the years and I am for sure going to add more tomato paste and simmer my sauce longer to get it thicker.

I also LOVE the idea of extra sauce to ladle over the top, especially if I succeed in a lasagna that cuts cleanly. My husband definitely would love that.

I’ve never tried it with sausage, but that sounds so so amazing! My husband sadly does not eat pork but maybe I’ll make two batches of ladling sauce...hmmm! Decisions decisions!

My ricotta is always whipped with an egg, fresh parsley and parm but thinking maybe I’ll season it even more so? Or more parm?

ETA: I’m from Westchester Co, NY, and until I read a Pioneer Woman recipe and the subsequently, Dis suggestions, have never heard of subbing cottage cheese for ricotta!! Oddly my husband likes cottage cheese and isn’t a ricotta fan, but that’s one move I just don’t think I can make!

Thanks everyone!!

 

[Cindy's Mom]

Ricotta, mozzarella, romano cheese, eggs, salt and peppers. one less egg than the amount of ricotta (5 lbs ricotta - 4 eggs) make the mixture, boil noodles for 5 minutues and layer away with homemade sauce of course. top with basil leaves

 

[Pooh2]

Scrolled by this thread a few times before you got me!
Just prepared a lasagna for the weekend and popped it into the freezer.

I follow a recipe that I got off the Prince lasagna noodle box about 30 years ago. Over the years, I've tweaked it some and have it down pat so it comes out in perfect squares every time.

 

[neverlandsky]

We do ricotta for stuffed shells and cottage cheese for lasagna.

 

[dmfordo]

For anyone that has a Ninja Foodi, the Salted Pepper's version of Lasagna was delicious and didn't take too long to make. She makes two pans at once, but I only made one. I saved the rest of the sauce and put in the freezer for another day. Her recipes are good for anyone gifted a foodi for Christmas.

 

[RivShore]

My mom used to make the crepe version, so good.

Yes!! that is what we always look for and have never quite found in a store or resturant. So light and fluffy, you could eat a hundred of them!

 

[abigail12]

I make lasagna with a lot of cheese and chicken meat.

 

[TwoMisfits]

So, this list inspired me to make lasagna today...my spouse reminded me that on our once-a-year Xmas Whole Foods trip, he bought a fancy jarred calabrian chili, sausage, and wine tomato sauce, so that's getting mixed in to my norm lasagna...2 types of meat, 2 types of sauce, and my bechemel...should be interesting today...

 

[TwoMisfits]

Oh, and the lasagna is SO GOOD! Thanks for the OP for starting this thread, b/c I doubt I'd have put lasagna on my meal list this week, otherwise (I don't think I've made it since pre-Covid, since it is a time suck, even just having to scratch 1 item and cook the meat for prep)...

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I don't make layered lasagna. I make individual roll ups. One lasagna noodle per roll up. My family likes it with either cooked and shredded chicken or crab and *homemade* Alfredo sauce. It's a bit of a pain, but don't buy that stuff in jars if you can help it.

3/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
3 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Buy a wedge and grate it yourself if you can. The kind in jars and cans usually contain cellulose , which makes it clump and remain grainy.

1. Add the butter and cream to a large skillet.
2. Simmer over low heat for two minutes.
3. Whisk in the garlic, salt, and pepper for one minute.
4. Whisk in the Parmesan cheese until melted.

Spread a bit of the sauce on the cooked to Al Dente lasagna noodles. Not too much. Spread some filling on the noodle (when using chicken I add 3 Tbsp of shredded mozzarella cheese and a bit of oregano on top of the chicken. Roll the noodle up carefully. Place the roll ups in a pan that's been sprayed with nonstick spray, seam side down. Once all of the roll ups are in the pan, pour the remaining Alfredo sauce on top and if using chicken top with shredded mozzarella. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

The Alfredo can be used with any kind of pasta, and is really good with shrimp and linguini. Just cook the linguini how you like it, cook the shrimp in garlic and butter until no longer pink, and toss it all together with the sauce.