fresh lasagna noodles vs. oven ready

[JanetB]

Most of the lasagna recipes I've seen lately call for "oven ready" or "no boil" lasagna, but I would prefer using fresh noodles. What would be the difference in liquid and also in baking time? Can you simply substitute one for the other.

[DampCharcoal]

I used the oven ready noodles once and as you might imagine, the noodles depend on the moisture of the lasagna filling to achieve a nice al dente texture. I was apprehensive about the finished product but everything turned out okay. Oven ready noodles are a bit smaller and thinner than the dry noodles you would boil. Hope that helps! :)

[Goodweed of the North]

Oven-ready lasagna noodles do indeed rely on moisture from the sauce to cook and soften the noodles. That being said, the same can be true of ordinary lasagna nooles as well. If you make the sauce rather soupy, and cook for the right amount of time, the noodles will soften. However, getting the right amount of moisture will determine the quality of the dish. I have used both the oven-ready, and regular noodles without boiling either, and have had spectacular results. But if you use too little water, there won't be enough to be absorbed into the noodle, or if there is, the fillings may be dry.
Use too much and you sill have runny fillings.

As for using fresh pasta (uncooked, just maid, and moist) they will cook faster, have more body, and be a little thicker that store purchased product. A thicker sauce can be used with the fillings and still result in a great end result. And the dough is soooo easy to make. The downside, the noodles are fairly delicate and require a bit more care in the handling.

Hope this helps.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

[Lifter]

Hi Janet...

Virtually no difference between "fresh", "boiled" or "packaged" noodles. in my own opinion...

"Given" that where you use the dry noodles (no lack of "quality" here!) you use a fairly "gooey"sauce and ingredients...and cover them well...I posted a recipe under pasta's or lasagna's a month ago that "did" my standard offering, including a pile of pepperoni slices, whole wheat and "spinach" noodles for variety...pretty much an "easy" recipe, though I must emphasize the results are better with the "ricotta" cheese than cottage cheese curds...

But try it out and get back on the Board with what you liked or disliked!

Lifter

[Darkstream]

I never really had any success with these. They always rembled ships biscuits to me. Either too dry, or soggy. And they did'nt have any worms or weevils either.

Still there is an old (15C) Genoeese recipe for a lasagna like dish that actually uses ships biscuits, and is still made today.

(Imagine the profligacy of cooking pasta in WATER on a 15 century sailing ship! You old sailors out there wil lknow what I mean).

[Claire]

When I made lasagna with the 'no boil' noodles, I didn't notice a difference, but my husband didn't like them at all. Probably a function of the fact that I really am not a lasagna fan (although I've been told mine is great, it just isn't a favortie dish of mine). To me the short cut worked well, to husband it ruined my fabulous lasagna. Go figger.

[jennyema]

I love to make my own pasta, but when I bother to, it's when the pasta itself is going to be the "star" of the dish.

IMO, the pasta plays only a supporting role in lasagna, so I never bother to make fresh noodles for it.

I have been totally converted to Barilla no-boil lasagna noodles. Great product every time. I showed them to a friend who can hardly heat up soup and now she makes lasagna every week using the recipe on the Barilla box.