# Help me make a better lasagne. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848 "2005-02-01T20:37:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/41 "2005-02-02T22:54:11Z")
> [@FisherQueen](#): > > It sounds like sacrilege, but I recently tried a neat mixture- silken tofu mixed with frozen spinach made a wonderful glop to put between layers. Sounds!? Sounds?! Indeed Madame, I know not what sounds but what IS! Sorry. My bad Holmes moment has passed. Well drained spinach can be ok, as can thinly sliced zucchini or possibly even carefully cleaned and pre-steamed artichoke hearts, but tofu? \ Obviously I haven’t had the right tofu yet. Are you using it in place of the ricotta layer? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/42 "2005-02-03T02:48:08Z")
Lasagna never stays around my house long enough to be frozen. I’d have to say it’s the one thing that me, my wife and my stepson all love. Only once did I try to make two pans (I only have two pans that it would fit in anyway) and it was too much of a pain, so I won’t do it anymore. I love pleasing people with food, but enough is enough! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/43 "2005-02-03T11:25:05Z")
> [@The Devil's Grandmother](#): > > Sounds!? Sounds?! Indeed Madame, I know not what sounds but what IS! > Sorry. My bad Holmes moment has passed. > > Well drained spinach can be ok, as can thinly sliced zucchini or possibly even carefully cleaned and pre-steamed artichoke hearts, but tofu? \ Obviously I haven’t had the right tofu yet. Are you using it in place of the ricotta layer? Yes, but I still used mozzerella and parmesan- a fully cheeseless lasagna would be a sad object indeed. I thought it sounded pretty yucky, too, but after mixing with the cheeses and sauce and baking, it ended up with a lovely mild flavor that really made the spinach work. I think it’d be good in one of those vegetable lasagnas that I never make. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/44 "2005-02-03T11:56:12Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > The problem, **IMHO** , with bread, is that you already have one starch (the egg noodles or lasagna plates) and it is generally recommended by epicures to avoid serving two starches in one course. **Stranger** , whatever you do, don’t move to Ireland where lasagna is _always_ accompanied by chips (fries). As is just about everything else whether or not it’s starchy already. I’m very anti-Atkins but I agree with you on this. I like salad alongside lasagne, though just lasagna is fine by me. Great thread! Despite some of the advices being contradictory I will have to try and produce a lasagna myself. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/45 "2005-02-03T14:50:14Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > The problem, **IMHO** , with bread, is that you already have one starch (the egg noodles or lasagna plates) and it is generally recommended by epicures to avoid serving two starches in one course, e.g. rolls with potato leek soup or bread with pasta. It just makes the course, well, _too_ starchy, palate-drying, whatever you want to call it. When someone says “pasta” and “bread” in the same sentance I get a vision of people mopping up greasy institutional marinara with flavorless, floppy crusted “french” bread. > > **YMMV** , and I have plenty of food habits that would turn a gourmand’s stomach right through his pancreas[sup]\*[/sup], so I should just shut the hell up before I become more of a hypocrit. :smack: The italians serve bread at the start of a meal and remove it after the salad course just before desert. The bread isn’t meant to be a “side” in the traditional sense but as sort of tiny edible utensils, meant to sop up errant bits of sauces of salad dressings. I think this approach is perfectly acceptable and doesn’t violate the two starch rule. Then again, what do the italians know about lasagna? 😉 OT: What do you think of gnocci (potatos & flour), minestrone (potatos & pasta), Indian curried potatos (potatos & rice) & Chip Batties (potatos & bread) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/46 "2005-02-03T14:58:49Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > **Stranger** , whatever you do, don’t move to Ireland where lasagna is _always_ accompanied by chips (fries). What _is_ it with the occupants of the British Isles, particularly the Irish, and their bizzare obsession with potatos? I know that it’s about the only think that’ll grow on that collection of rocks, but cheezit, guys, it’s the 21st century; you can have Alaskan King Crab, Chilean Sea Bass[sup]\*[/sup], and California asparagus delivered to your door, 365 days of the year. Give up on the potatos, ya fenian bast’ds! 😃 I love the Guinness and the whisky, though. And the girls. Keep up the good work! 😉 Stranger - Chilean Sea Bas is [not endangered](http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/fs/2002/8989.htm). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/47 "2005-02-03T15:20:45Z")
My favourite lasagne recipe is in 3 layers. The meat layer is a mixture of beef and Italian sausage with the usual tomatoes etc. I like less fluid than most because I like my big slice of pie to hold it’s shape. The cheese layer is any old cheese sauce you like but I usually sneak in some mustard. The other layer is defrosted, drained frozen English spinach very briefly sauted with chopped onions, spring onions and parsley, pepper, dill and nutmeg. I gave up using lasagne some years ago. It seems like pointless pasta and I get spotty results with it so why bother. Instead I cook up whatever I have spirals, elbows, anything and split in 3. I mix 1/3 with some of the meat sauce and lay it on the bottom of the baking dish. I put the rest of the meat sauce atop it. I then mix 1/3 with some of the spinach mixture and lay it on top. Then the rest of the spinach mixture. Lastly the same with the cheese sauce. Top with mozarella and chuck in the oven. It looks really good in a clear baking dish. Sometimes I alternate the layers - pasta, meat, spinach, cheese, pasta… By including a vegetable layer and using different pasta it becomes a huge meal that will feed more than twice the number. But I guess it’s not lasagne anymore although we still call it my lasagne. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/48 "2005-02-03T15:26:19Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > **Stranger** , whatever you do, don’t move to Ireland where lasagna is _always_ accompanied by chips (fries). Nothing wrong with that. If I have left over pasta sauce that is not enough for a meal I either have it on a piece of toast for lunch or steal some of my son’s chips and have it on them. In similar British manner I do the same if I have a small amount of left over curry. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/49 "2005-02-03T17:04:14Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Nothing wrong with that. If I have left over pasta sauce that is not enough for a meal I either have it on a piece of toast for lunch or steal some of my son’s chips and have it on them. In similar British manner I do the same if I have a small amount of left over curry. Doesn’t violate any two starchy things “rules”, though I wouldn’t personally like that. Reading down this thread I noticed something else though…Can anyone give me the Straightdope on whether “lasagna” or “lasagne” is correct? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/50 "2005-02-03T17:17:08Z")
Looks like both [lasagne](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=lasagne) and [lasagna](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=lasagna) are acceptable spellings. Unfortunately, \*\*butler1850’s \*\* cool plural lasagnai was not recognized but [lasagnas](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=lasagnas)was. ☹ Lasagna is all about doing what you like, PookahMacPhellimey, so take the bits of advice you think will make good food and discard the rest. I’ve been searching for the perfect lasagne recipie for about four years now, and I’m not done yet. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/51 "2005-02-03T17:38:25Z")
PookahMacPhellimey’s comment reminded me of this thread, [The Great Ingredient Debate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=277003&highlight=olives) and in searching for it I found some tips on making [Veggie lasagna](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270256&highlight=lasagne) and some [expanded comments on noodles](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=235746&highlight=lasagne) I also noticed searching for Lasagna got more hits than searching for Lasagne. \ ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/52 "2005-02-04T23:46:33Z")
We just finished dining on the best lasagne I’ve ever made or eaten. I love this board! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848/53 "2005-02-10T21:01:30Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > …you could use my Secret Ingredient™: bacon. I’m going to make some pans of lasagna this weekend. So, **Gaspode** , how much bacon should I use for a 9x11 pan of lasagna? Should I add this to my current meat layer or should I use bacon alone? **FisherQueen** , what is silken tofu? Can you recommend a brand name I might be able to find in California? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-a-better-lasagne/287848.md?page=2)