Italian Cooking

[Addie]

I wonder if my husband would like the bechemel. He likes my lasagne the way I make it and hates when I change a recipe he likes. But that would just be like an extra layer of cheese and he likes cheese.

If you do decide to make it, make sure you make a large pan like you would the standard red sauce. The pasta really soaks it up.

Give it a new name Creamed pasta with ricotta instead of lasagna and tell him it is less acidic for the stomach.

 

[GotGarlic]

Carol I can't remember if it is the northern part or the southern part of Italy that uses béchamel sauce for the whole lasagna. Not just on top.

It's northern Italy, closer to France and Switzerland, that uses more butter, milk and cream in their cooking.

 

[Addie]

It's northern Italy, closer to France and Switzerland, that uses more butter, milk and cream in their cooking.

Thank you. Of course. That is the farming area. Senior moment.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Now I have another question. Does anyone here put a bechemel sauce on top of their lasagne?....

I don't make my standard red sauce lasagna that way. However, I want to make a seafood lasagna similar to one I had in Rockland, Me. It was seafood (including chunks of lobster ) and a light cheese bechamel sauce with the ricotta and noodles layered. It was so to die for! Like many other things, some day......

 

[Andy M.]

Now I have another question. Does anyone here put a bechemel sauce on top of their lasagne?...

I make a sort of Bolognese sauce. I mix bechamel with a meat (sausage and ground beef) sauce and layer that with the noodles and a combination of parm and mozz.

 

[Addie]

I don't make my standard red sauce lasagna that way. However, I want to make a seafood lasagna similar to one I had in Rockland, Me. It was seafood (including chunks of lobster ) and a light cheese bechamel sauce with the ricotta and noodles layered. It was so to die for! Like many other things, some day......

It is only about a 1.5 hours drive from here. Head back up there again before you go back to Ohio. Unless you have relatives here, the chance of you ever coming back this way is doubtful. Just make sure you stop here first and pick me up. BTW, Rockland has a huge lobster festival in the summer.

Was all the sauce the cheese béchamel sauce on all the layers? Best time to make it is in the summer when the seafood is much cheaper. Any idea what cheese they used in the béchamel sauce? I would imagine it was either Parm or Romano. Although Asiago cheese melts easier than either of those two.

 

[CharlieD]

Now I have another question. Does anyone here put a bechemel sauce on top of their lasagne? ...

I do, when I am not too lazy or busy to make some. It adds a whole another dimension to the lasagna, taste so much better. Though everybody, including me, likes my lasagna without it too, but I do know how much better it is. The only thing I do not add nutmeg to my bechamel sauce.

 

[CarolPa]

I make a sort of Bolognese sauce. I mix bechamel with a meat (sausage and ground beef) sauce and layer that with the noodles and a combination of parm and mozz.

So you don't use any red sauce at all? No ricotta?

 

[CarolPa]

I don't make my standard red sauce lasagna that way. However, I want to make a seafood lasagna similar to one I had in Rockland, Me. It was seafood (including chunks of lobster ) and a light cheese bechamel sauce with the ricotta and noodles layered. It was so to die for! Like many other things, some day......

The recipe I saw was for a basic red sauce lasagne, then half way through the baking you add the bechamel on top and continue baking.

 

[Rocklobster]

Adding white sauce to tomato sauce for pasta dishes is more common in the northern parts of Italy. From everything I have read and heard the Italians were introduced to cream sauces by the French. I would assume the more south you go, the less you see this in recipes....

If you ever want to add a bit of cream to your spaghetti sauce before you serve it, go for it. Like CharlieD says, it creates a whole new thang.....

 

[Andy M.]

So you don't use any red sauce at all? No ricotta?

The meat sauce I mentioned is a red sauce. So the lasagna sauce is a tomato sauce with meat mixed with bechamel. A true bechamel would be a meat sauce with tomato and cream.

No, I do not use ricotta. I don't like ricotta so I adopted and adapted Luca Lazzari's recipe for a Bolognese-style lasagna without ricotta. According to Luca, most lasagna in Italy does not include ricotta.

 

[Rocklobster]

According to Luca, most lasagna in Italy does not include ricotta.

From my experience, I believe this to be true....

 

[Addie]

The meat sauce I mentioned is a red sauce. So the lasagna sauce is a tomato sauce with meat mixed with bechamel. A true bechamel would be a meat sauce with tomato and cream.

No, I do not use ricotta. I don't like ricotta so I adopted and adapted Luca Lazzari's recipe for a Bolognese-style lasagna without ricotta. According to Luca, most lasagna in Italy does not include ricotta.

I hate ricotta cheese. It why I don't order it when I go out to eat.

 

[CarolPa]

We have a brand of ricotta around here called Lamagna. It is so outstanding I love to eat it right out of the carton. I've never tasted a ricotta that good. My step daughter does not like ricotta, so when I made lasagne I only put a small amount it. I could easily make it without it. I just thought your Bolognese-style lasagne sounded good and wondered what else was in it, Andy.

 

[Andy M.]

We have a brand of ricotta around here called Lamagna. It is so outstanding I love to eat it right out of the carton. I've never tasted a ricotta that good. My step daughter does not like ricotta, so when I made lasagne I only put a small amount it. I could easily make it without it. I just thought your Bolognese-style lasagne sounded good and wondered what else was in it, Andy.

Carol, here is the recipe I referred to. I changed it to use half Italian sausage and half ground beef. Also, I use half parm and half mozz.

I make this in my recipe rotation now and we love it.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f20/luca-s-meat-lasagna-easy-recipe-franca-s-style-74951.html

 

[Rocket_J_Dawg]

I make a sort of Bolognese sauce. I mix bechamel with a meat (sausage and ground beef) sauce and layer that with the noodles and a combination of parm and mozz.

Andy - When you say "sausage" do you mean ground pork, or some sort of pre-seasoned sausage meat. I see this mentioned a lot and I am never sure what is meant. I see what is labeled sausage meat in some grocery stores but all it is is ground pork.

 

[Andy M.]

Andy - When you say "sausage" do you mean ground pork, or some sort of pre-seasoned sausage meat. I see this mentioned a lot and I am never sure what is meant. I see what is labeled sausage meat in some grocery stores but all it is is ground pork.

I use sweet Italian sausage removed from the casings.

 

[CarolPa]

Carol, here is the recipe I referred to. I changed it to use half Italian sausage and half ground beef. Also, I use half parm and half mozz.

I make this in my recipe rotation now and we love it.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f20/luca-s-meat-lasagna-easy-recipe-franca-s-style-74951.html

There seems to be no seasoning other than salt, but I imagine all the other ingredients add to the flavor. I will try that recipe.

I have one more question. LOL I was googling recipes for bechamel and I see that some are just a white sauce and others include cheese and/or eggs. For example, I think I would really like this Vegetable Lasagne. The bechemel includes cheese and eggs. Is that common?

Vegetable Lasagna With A Thick Bechamel Sauce Recipe - Food.com - 251309

 

[Andy M.]

There seems to be no seasoning other than salt, but I imagine all the other ingredients add to the flavor. I will try that recipe.

I have one more question. LOL I was googling recipes for bechamel and I see that some are just a white sauce and others include cheese and/or eggs. For example, I think I would really like this Vegetable Lasagne. The bechemel includes cheese and eggs. Is that common?

Vegetable Lasagna With A Thick Bechamel Sauce Recipe - Food.com - 251309

Bechamel is white sauce. Fat, flour, milk and some salt and pepper. Anything else is not part of Bechamel regardless of what someone on the internet says.

That doesn't make that a bad recipe.

 

[Addie]

Bechamel is white sauce. Fat, flour, milk and some salt and pepper. Anything else is not part of Bechamel regardless of what someone on the internet says.

That doesn't make that a bad recipe.

What I question for that béchamel sauce is the use of skim dairy products. It makes for a weak sauce in my book. I want my cream sauces to be rich. If the writer is using them for dietary reasons such as calories, what is the sense? It is already calling for one stick of butter.