# Pasta Grannies - Lasagna Competition.



## taxlady (Oct 25, 2018)

This video might give you some ideas for changing up your lasagna. In any case, it's fun to watch the Pasta Grannies cook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4LQrJswko&feature=youtu.be


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## GotGarlic (Oct 25, 2018)

I enjoyed that - thanks for sharing. If I changed my lasagna, I'd have to give it a different name [emoji38] DH loves my lasagna.

I like the idea of the one with the short pasta, meatballs in sauce and fresh mozzarella. I was surprised that the granny who made lasagna with pesto didn't make her own pesto, though!


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## taxlady (Oct 25, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> I enjoyed that - thanks for sharing. If I changed my lasagna, I'd have to give it a different name [emoji38] DH loves my lasagna.
> 
> I like the idea of the one with the short pasta, meatballs in sauce and fresh mozzarella. I* was surprised that the granny who made lasagna with pesto didn't make her own pesto, though!*


Yeah, she didn't make her pasta either, only her bechamel. I guess it's easy to get good pesto and fresh pasta in Italy.


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## GotGarlic (Oct 25, 2018)

taxlady said:


> Yeah, she didn't make her pasta either, only her bechamel. I guess it's easy to get good pesto and fresh pasta in Italy.


Yeah, but for a competition?


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## taxlady (Oct 25, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> Yeah, but for a competition?


Yeah, I was a little surprised. I was also surprised that only one team made their own pasta.


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## Andy M. (Nov 13, 2018)

Interesting that none of the lasagnas included ricotta.


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## larry_stewart (Nov 13, 2018)

Andy M. said:


> Interesting that none of the lasagnas included ricotta.



Growing up,  always thought Ricotta was mandatory  since I had never came across a lasagna without it.

I remember reading a recipe posted here that was a lasagna made with the lasagna noodles and a layer of a  Bolognese sauce mixed with a Bechamel sauce.

That seemed a little untraditional to me.
I made a vegetarian version, and it actually turned out really good.
In fact, coincidently, my wife asked if I could make it again just the other day.


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## Andy M. (Nov 13, 2018)

I’ve been making a modified version of Luca Lazzari’s lasagna. I never ate lasagna as I don’t care for ricotta. I love Luca’s recipe. It’s not vegetarian.


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## larry_stewart (Nov 13, 2018)

Andy M. said:


> I’ve been making a modified version of Luca Lazzari’s lasagna. I never ate lasagna as I don’t care for ricotta. I love Luca’s recipe. It’s not vegetarian.



I've modified it to be vegetarian ( and even vegan for my wife).
It was a challenge , but she asked for me to make it again, so I must have done something right


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## Andy M. (Nov 13, 2018)

larry_stewart said:


> I've modified it to be vegetarian ( and even vegan for my wife).
> It was a challenge , but she asked for me to make it again, so I must have done something right



Nice job. It's not always easy to do.


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## GotGarlic (Nov 13, 2018)

Andy M. said:


> Interesting that none of the lasagnas included ricotta.


I imagine that's an Italian-American innovation. Italian immigrants could afford ingredients that were often out of reach in their home region.


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## Andy M. (Nov 13, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> I imagine that's an Italian-American innovation. Italian immigrants could afford ingredients that were often out of reach in their home region.





I have nightmares about mile high lasagnas that are mostly ricotta.


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## Cheryl J (Nov 13, 2018)

I'm one of the few here who likes ricotta in eggplant parmesan and lasagna.  But not a mile high of it.


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## larry_stewart (Nov 13, 2018)

I don't mind a ricotta layer, I just like when it has a consistency to it, not just mush.  Almost like the semi firm consistency of when I have stuffed shells


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## GotGarlic (Nov 13, 2018)

I don't think you're one of the few, Cheryl. I think we're just less vocal about it 

My ricotta layer is made with an egg, fresh basil, parsley, salt and pepper, so it's neither bland nor mushy. I dot the meat sauce layer with dollops of ricotta, so it's not a mile high, either [emoji2] The meat sauce is my favorite part


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## Cheryl J (Nov 13, 2018)

GotGarlic said:


> *I don't think you're one of the few, Cheryl. I think we're just less vocal about it *
> 
> My ricotta layer is made with an egg, fresh basil, parsley, salt and pepper, so it's neither bland nor mushy. I dot the meat sauce layer with dollops of ricotta, so it's not a mile high, either [emoji2] The meat sauce is my favorite part


 
 I don't make my own ricotta but I do pretty much the same thing with the store bought...stir it up, herb it, season it, and dollop here and there. 

Now I am *really* craving lasagna and/or eggplant parm.


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## di reston (Nov 14, 2018)

Hi folks! Having read your posts, I'd like to make one or two suggestions, which I posted way back. These are fillings that can be used for lasagne, tortiglioni and cannelloni:

Filling 1:

For the filling

1kg spinach
400g ricotta
2 eggs
4 spoonful Grana Padana
Nutmeg
salt and pepper

For the sauce:

30g butter
100g emmental cheese
1 cup of bechamel


Recipe 2:

Make the pasta as follows:

200g flour (strong flour)
2 eggs
salt

Make up the pasta in the usual way.

Filling:

150g ground beef
150g sausage meat, ground
200g ricotta
500g spinach
400g canned tomatoes without skin
4 large spoonfuls grated Grana padana cheese/parmesan cheese, although Grana Padana is best
1 clove garlic (1 large or two smaller ones)
4 dessert spoonsful Olive oil


for the sauce:

50g flour
80g butter
80g butter
1/2 litre milk
nutmeg, salt.


From the above, you will be able to work out how the sauces go.

The meat ragù is straight forward, as is the bèchamel sauce, which will be the topping for the dish.

These are two classic recipes. I urge you to try them, because they are very suitable for oven-baked pasta dishes.

Sometimes it's a good idea to stick with the good old, tried and tested recipes, and these are such two.

Food for thought, don't you think?

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast      Oscar Wilde


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## CharlieD (Nov 14, 2018)

Oh my gosh. I'm watching this and they make lasagna with pasta/noodles of a sort. And I am remembering there was a person here, on this forum, who got into a huge fight with me when I suggested that one can do just that, use noodles instead of sheets. I wish, she was still here, I wish she was not kicked out from this board so I can prove that I was right.


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## di reston (Nov 14, 2018)

I'sn't written in stone that you have to use what I posted for only cannelloni or lasagne - use your imagination and get going with your own version.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## Addie (Nov 14, 2018)

Andy M. said:


> I’ve been making a modified version of Luca Lazzari’s lasagna. I never ate lasagna as I don’t care for ricotta. I love Luca’s recipe. It’s not vegetarian.



Thank you. I am not the only person on earth who doesn't like ricotta.


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## powerplantop (Nov 15, 2018)

My thoughts on ricotta in lasagna: I just do not see why its there. to me it does not bring anything to the party. Its not bad but its not good, certainly not a special flavor. To me its just filler to hold the egg.


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## GotGarlic (Nov 15, 2018)

powerplantop said:


> My thoughts on ricotta in lasagna: I just do not see why its there. to me it does not bring anything to the party. Its not bad but its not good, certainly not a special flavor. To me its just filler to hold the egg.


The creamy texture is a foil for the heaviness of the overall dish.


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## CharlieD (Nov 15, 2018)

powerplantop said:


> My thoughts on ricotta in lasagna: I just do not see why its there. to me it does not bring anything to the party. Its not bad but its not good, certainly not a special flavor. To me its just filler to hold the egg.



What would you suggest then for vegetarian lasagna?


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## taxlady (Nov 15, 2018)

CharlieD said:


> What would you suggest then for vegetarian lasagna?


When I was a vegetarian, I often put sautéed eggplant slices. I usually made a meat substitute for the ground beef. I would put cooked beans through the meat grinder, using the coarse blade. Then I would fry that up with chopped onion. It works well, both flavour and texture-wise. Sometimes I just put whole, cooked chick peas.


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## GotGarlic (Nov 15, 2018)

CharlieD said:


> What would you suggest then for vegetarian lasagna?


Most vegetarians eat cheese.


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## Addie (Nov 15, 2018)

powerplantop said:


> My thoughts on ricotta in lasagna: I just do not see why its there. to me it does not bring anything to the party. Its not bad but its not good, certainly not a special flavor. To me its just filler to hold the egg.



Italians never waste even a mouthful. They can get more products from milk, than we can never imagine.


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## blissful (Nov 15, 2018)

Addie said:


> Italians never waste even a mouthful. They can get more products from milk, than we can never imagine.




There are 2,500 different kinds of cheese made from cows/sheep/goats/other types of milk.
Italy has 1.8 million cows.
Half of the states in the US, have more cows than italy.


To me it makes total sense that some people don't like ricotta. Whether I like it depends on if all the milk fat has been removed from the milk before using it. It depends on if salt is added. Ricotta curds without salt taste like mush, almost tasteless except for a little sour taste.


In the different kinds of cheeses, some cheeses are made with cultures, aging, and they have a certain different taste (like the difference between vinegar pickles and fermented pickles). Ricotta is made with acid, vinegar, citric acid, lemon juice, and the taste is more sour and a different kind of sour than the cheeses made with cultures and aged.


Most ricotta is made with the leftover whey from cheese making, it is a waste product with nutritional value. The same for whey which is dried and then used in its powdered form for protein drinks with whey proteins.


I LIKE ricotta but not in lasagna. I probably like it because I like more sour tastes than my husband. I like pickles and olives more than my husband does. I like sauerkraut more than my husband does. I like lemonade more than he does. He prefers fermented sauerkraut, fermented cheeses, fermented pickles and in all of them the salt needs to balance with the acid.


I like sweet tarts, he likes red licorice.



Vive La Difference! 



I would have never thought of putting pesto in lasagna. I saw that and I thought, 'I've gotta try that!'


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## di reston (Nov 15, 2018)

The film was fascinating! When I lived in England, I had a posting in Manchester at the Italian Consulate. We often had meals together at lunch time, and not only that we were frequently invitited to get-togethers  and we 9 times out 10 made lasagne. I don't quite understand why they enjoyed my lasagne, but they did. Mine were traditional, with meat and bechamel, but then I learned to make meatless lasagne.

The ingredients, back then, were different. 

When the exodus from Europe after the second world war drew hundreds and thousands of Italians to Europe and the USA, there was an influx in both countries - probably more than Europe - the immigrants both to Great Britain -set to work  to make a new life.

They were amazed at the abundance of food, they were able to create dishes that were no longer 'poverty' dishes, and the opulance that faced all around them. No wonder they started creating dishes that were'nt based on poverty, but on plenty: hence the opulance of the Italo-American style of life and not only that, but also the style of American food. That's how I see it.


di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast    Oscar Wilde


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## blissful (Nov 15, 2018)

+1~~!!


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