How do you make your lasagna?

[Minnesota!]

I have not made, homemade, lasagna in a long time. I made some low carb, vegetarian one last Christmas that was good - used lavash as the noodles, a lot of low carb veg, good layer of ricotta/seasoning, etc., home made sauce.

I do so love lasagna - wish it loved me.

 

[DLgal]

I don't ever make lasagna because it is way too complicated. I make manicotti instead. I like having individual pasta tubes stuffed with cheese rather than a layered dish.

I use Rao's Marinara, add fresh julienned basil and some water (half a jar). My filling is 15oz ricotta cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, one egg, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, half a package frozen baby spinach (defrost in microwave and squeeze all the water out), salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar. Stuff the manicotti using a pastry bag (raw pasta, I don't cook it first). Quick and easy. Put a layer of sauce, add the manicotti in rows, cover with more sauce. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, uncover, sprinkle another cup or more of mozzarella and more parmesan, bake at 450 for 10 more minutes. You can use this same filling for lasagna and you can add meat to the sauce if you like.

The most important thing is do not precooked the noodles. Use oven ready or just use raw noodles and extra water in the sauce. Mushy pasta is the absolute worst.

 

[mjkacmom]

I suspect that would be the reaction of the average person in the NE. I grew up within walking distance of the Bronx’s version of Little Italy (it began right around the corner from my junior high school) so ricotta was a norm and readily available. Still if I found myself in an place where it was hard to come by cottage cheese could make a decent substitute, doctored up a bit (added lemon zest?) .
The first time I served a lasagna with meat sauce one of my kids thought I had lost my mind. Until he ate some and told his then wife to get the recipe. Poor she.

True, I just checked and my grocery store carries at least 8 brands of ricotta.

 

[mousefan73]

Mine is a project and a PIA if I make it all at once as I make the meat sauce from scratch. So lasagne is double work for me.. I try to make it easy by whenever I do bolognese night I make a huge pot of sauce to freeze to use for a lasagne night... so the first, longer step is done.

I layer meatsauce with ricotta or cottage cheese.. Sometimes I will add garlic and spinach to the cheeses.. top with mozerrella and bechamel sauce.

 

[Farro]

cottage cheese....

 

[drwitz]

OK. I cannot resist, especially because my family makes fun of me when I make it.

FISH LASAGNA!!

What? You seem shocked. Let me explain!

In my family, we have gluten and dairy intolerances so making any kind of lasagna is a challenge. I also do not eat beef or poultry. My version accommodates all of these issues.

To begin with, I make a gluten-free, dairy-free bechamel sauce which becomes the white sauce for the lasagna. Using gluten-free flour, almond milk, and a soy-based margarine, the bechamel sauce is creamy and delicious.

I pre-bake several pieces of cod so that I have pre-cooked fish to break up and lay between the layers of noodles.

Our grocery store has both gluten-free lasagna noodles (the best brand I find is Tinkyada), and dairy-free mozzarella slices (which I use in slices to lay between the noodles and fish).

Finally, I add some capers and chopped green olives to add a little bite.

Don't knock it until you try it!!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Now that I can't have dairy and tree nuts - according to my kids, better than I ever did...

I use no boil lasagna noodles, a nice marinara jar, browned ground beef, and a homemade "bechamel" sauce with an olive oil/flour roux, rice milk, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt and pepper, and Italian herbs (this is where my prep time goes - thus, why it's no boil noodles and jarred marinara)...I layer as normal, and when it finishes cooking, the kids sprinkle mozzarella and parm on their portions (while I eat without) - it ends up a touch looser than normal lasagna and tastes, according to the kids, like "really creamy spaghetti" (which they love - apparently, they don't love ricotta, which we discovered after I made my 1st dairy-free/tree nut free lasagna)...

Im enjoying this thread for the ideas on how to make lasagna w/o cheese as DGD is now saying she’s lactose intolerant (too much internet surfing medical sites like WebDoc?) .Odd since she eats pizza, yougurt, whipped cream, and drinks milk. She has a medical appt on Wed so guess we’ll find out.

OK. I cannot resist, especially because my family makes fun of me when I make it.

FISH LASAGNA!!

What? You seem shocked. Let me explain!

In my family, we have gluten and dairy intolerances so making any kind of lasagna is a challenge. I also do not eat beef or poultry. My version accommodates all of these issues.

To begin with, I make a gluten-free, dairy-free bechamel sauce which becomes the white sauce for the lasagna. Using gluten-free flour, almond milk, and a soy-based margarine, the bechamel sauce is creamy and delicious.

I pre-bake several pieces of cod so that I have pre-cooked fish to break up and lay between the layers of noodles.

Our grocery store has both gluten-free lasagna noodles (the best brand I find is Tinkyada), and dairy-free mozzarella slices (which I use in slices to lay between the noodles and fish).

Finally, I add some capers and chopped green olives to add a little bite.

Don't knock it until you try it!!

Sounds good to me! Our man dish this New Year’s Eve will be my version of this recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/salmon-cannelloni-with-lemon-cream-sauce-236980
which is in a similar vein.

 

[tzolkin]

cottage cheese....

My thoughts as well. I didn't know that cottage cheese was used as a substitute in lasagna until a few years ago. And I had absolutely no idea how common it was until THIS THREAD.

 

[bobbiwoz]

It’s been such a long time since I have made lasagna, but I have loved reading through this thread. Since it’s just the two of us, especially this year, we have been happy with Stauffers, or buying one dinner from a local restaurant, Tony’s, and splitting.

I had always used the Recipe on the San Giorgio’s lasagna box.
http://www.inthekitchenwithshelly.c... 12,baking dish, spread 3/4 cup of meat sauce.

 

[RivShore]

I don't ever make lasagna because it is way too complicated. I make manicotti instead. I like having individual pasta tubes stuffed with cheese rather than a layered dish.

I use Rao's Marinara, add fresh julienned basil and some water (half a jar). My filling is 15oz ricotta cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, one egg, 1/4 cup grated parmesan, half a package frozen baby spinach (defrost in microwave and squeeze all the water out), salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar. Stuff the manicotti using a pastry bag (raw pasta, I don't cook it first). Quick and easy. Put a layer of sauce, add the manicotti in rows, cover with more sauce. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, uncover, sprinkle another cup or more of mozzarella and more parmesan, bake at 450 for 10 more minutes. You can use this same filling for lasagna and you can add meat to the sauce if you like.

The most important thing is do not precooked the noodles. Use oven ready or just use raw noodles and extra water in the sauce. Mushy pasta is the absolute worst.

What are you using for the manicotti shell?

 

[DLgal]

What are you using for the manicotti shell?

Packaged manicotti shells. Barilla brand is my preference but store brand also works fine.

 

[mjkacmom]

What are you using for the manicotti shell?

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

 

[firefly_ris]

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.

I also have made and enjoyed veggie lasagna with a variety of stuff... spinach, mushrooms, I made one with squash one time too.

I normally only make real lasagna around the holidays but for regular dinners I've made little spinach lasagna roll ups which are easy and good too.

 

[tzolkin]

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

Mine too. That was my first thought when the other poster mentioned manicotti being easier than lasagna. I've always had it where each one was made individually. She made it look very easy, but I have never made them myself. I just made the sauce and helped assemble them.

 

[mjkacmom]

Mine too. That was my first thought when the other poster mentioned manicotti being easier than lasagna. I've always had it where each one was made individually. She made it look very easy, but I have never made them myself. I just made the sauce and helped assemble them.

Now I want them, we have a fresh pasta shop in town with a lot of options, I’m wondering if they make them. I guess I could give it a shot myself.

 

[ncc1701]

OK. I cannot resist, especially because my family makes fun of me when I make it.

FISH LASAGNA!!

What? You seem shocked. Let me explain!

In my family, we have gluten and dairy intolerances so making any kind of lasagna is a challenge. I also do not eat beef or poultry. My version accommodates all of these issues.

To begin with, I make a gluten-free, dairy-free bechamel sauce which becomes the white sauce for the lasagna. Using gluten-free flour, almond milk, and a soy-based margarine, the bechamel sauce is creamy and delicious.

I pre-bake several pieces of cod so that I have pre-cooked fish to break up and lay between the layers of noodles.

Our grocery store has both gluten-free lasagna noodles (the best brand I find is Tinkyada), and dairy-free mozzarella slices (which I use in slices to lay between the noodles and fish).

Finally, I add some capers and chopped green olives to add a little bite.

Don't knock it until you try it!!

No laughing here. I had Crab lasagna once on vacation in San Francisco. Loved it

 

[DisneyHardin]

My chef, Stouffer, makes a fantastic lasagna.

I use that same chef!!

 

[Magical2017]

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.

 

[fla4fun]

I made it for Christmas. I do two things to make the process easier. I doctor a jar sauce and I use bow tie pasta to make serving easier. The bow ties I boil until just al dente. To the jar sauce I add a small can of tomato paste, a pound of ground beef, two fairly large onions (chopped fine), a teaspoon of rosemary, a tablespoon of oregano, a dash of garlic powder (or 2-3 cloves chopped fine), dash of salt and pepper, and a half to full tsp of red pepper flakes. I start the sauce at the same time I put the water on for the pasta, so it probably simmers 15-20 minutes total. You want the sauce fairly thick, but if it is too thick, add a little of the pasta water to get a nice thick consistency. I use 2 8-oz bags of mozzarella, one 8-oz bag of shredded Parmesan and a 32-oz tub of ricotta.

Beginning with sauce, I layer sauce, noodles, shredded cheeses, ricotta cheese, then sauce, noodles, etc. Make sure to hold back sauce and cheese to top the dish before baking. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until top is golden and bubbly. Take out and allow to sit while garlic bread heats up. This allows the sauce to be completely absorbed and the cheese to set, making it easy to serve. You can prepare the dish the day before and refrigerate, but allow an extra 15-20 minutes baking time.

I have made it with lasagne noodles, and while the taste is the same, I don’t have the right serving equipment to cut completely through for a clean slice. The bow ties give the same taste and mouth feel, but are much easier to serve. So for family, it’s always the bow ties these days. Plus it’s easier to size the recipe up or down with the bow ties and still have adequate layers.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I made it for Christmas. I do two things to make the process easier. I doctor a jar sauce and I use bow tie pasta to make serving easier. The bow ties I boil until just al dente. To the jar sauce I add a small can of tomato paste, a pound of ground beef, two fairly large onions (chopped fine), a teaspoon of rosemary, a tablespoon of oregano, a dash of garlic powder (or 2-3 cloves chopped fine), dash of salt and pepper, and a half to full tsp of red pepper flakes. I start the sauce at the same time I put the water on for the pasta, so it probably simmers 15-20 minutes total. You want the sauce fairly thick, but if it is too thick, add a little of the pasta water to get a nice thick consistency. I use 2 8-oz bags of mozzarella, one 8-oz bag of shredded Parmesan and a 32-oz tub of ricotta.

Beginning with sauce, I layer sauce, noodles, shredded cheeses, ricotta cheese, then sauce, noodles, etc. Make sure to hold back sauce and cheese to top the dish before baking. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until top is golden and bubbly. Take out and allow to sit while garlic bread heats up. This allows the sauce to be completely absorbed and the cheese to set, making it easy to serve. You can prepare the dish the day before and refrigerate, but allow an extra 15-20 minutes baking time.

I have made it with lasagne noodles, and while the taste is the same, I don’t have the right serving equipment to cut completely through for a clean slice. The bow ties give the same taste and mouth feel, but are much easier to serve. So for family, it’s always the bow ties these days. Plus it’s easier to size the recipe up or down with the bow ties and still have adequate layers.

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