# Lasagna cheese filling **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [June 22, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816 "2021-06-22T04:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2021, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/41 "2021-07-08T11:38:13Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [Grundig Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/grundig-posts/945967/8) ---
**Author:** ![EmbarrassingDad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/embarrassingdad/32/5441_2.png) [@EmbarrassingDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmbarrassingDad)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/42 "2021-08-04T10:55:06Z")
First, apologies to all for abandoning the thread for so long. Smapti, you are mostly correct. My recipe starts with a pound each of sweet italian, hot italian sausage, and ground beef. 3 pounds ricotta, and all fresh herbs and spices I just measured the pan, it’s 12x17. ETA: OK I lied, not ALL fresh herbs and spices but I try. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/43 "2021-08-04T11:06:41Z")
> [@EmbarrassingDad](#): > > My recipe starts with a pound each of sweet italian, hot italian sausage, and ground beef. I just use ground beef and hot Italian sausage for mine, no sweet. The pancetta in my recipe goes into the mirepoix, mainly as rendered fat for sautéing it, and it’s pretty much invisible in the finished product. (I suppose it’s a sofrito if you want to get technical, but I always call it mirepoix because I learned about it from my mother who worked for a few years as a cook in a French restaurant.) ---
**Author:** ![EmbarrassingDad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/embarrassingdad/32/5441_2.png) [@EmbarrassingDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmbarrassingDad)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/44 "2021-08-04T11:17:37Z")
I’m going to try the gradient ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2021, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/45 "2021-08-04T11:31:04Z")
You guys sound like you need a taste tester to help resolve these weight issues, so I selflessly offer up myself free of charge. I live to serve! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/46 "2021-09-02T08:35:15Z")
Giving this thread a little bump as I wanted some advice. My lasagnas are decent but not brilliant. They tend to be too ‘dry.’ I figure that I have the ratio of the noodles to the bolognaise and white sauces wrong. Any pointers on how much of each to use? And on a related note, how many layers of noodles do you usually do? ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/47 "2021-09-02T08:36:55Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Some contestants complained after they found out that I did not work in the food industry. struggling to parse this. I could imagine amateur cooks complaining if a professional was competing against them, but why would there be an issue if the opposite happened? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/48 "2021-09-02T08:42:23Z")
What’s the consistency of your ragu like? Could you make it a little more ‘wet’ than you’re used to and go from there? In my experience, it’s not the white sauce which makes the lasagne more moist, it’s the ragu. I do go down the bechamel route, rather than the American ricotta route. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/49 "2021-09-02T08:42:43Z")
Still waiting for the pics! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/50 "2021-09-02T09:22:56Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > struggling to parse this. I could imagine amateur cooks complaining if a professional was competing against them, but why would there be an issue if the opposite happened? I imagine that if you’re a professionally trained and educated cook, getting shown up by someone who cooks at home as a hobby would be a bit of a blow to your ego. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/51 "2021-09-03T11:58:53Z")
Do you precook your noodles? If not, you need to make the ragu a bit more watery. I make fresh noodles that I preccok, and my bolognese is on the thicker side, definitely not soupy or even really saucy. It’s not a tomato sauce with meat, but rather meat with some tomato in it. It’s the consistency of a sloppy joe (if you’re American and understand the reference.) If I use dry no-cook noodles and don’t feel like pre-cooking, I make the ragu soupier. As for layers, I do three layers of bolognese and two layers of bechamel, and parmesan sprinkled on all layers. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/52 "2021-09-03T16:33:42Z")
Why limit yourself to 3 dimensions? I recommend making a hyper-dimensional quantum lasagna, consisting of Up Ricotta, Down Béchamel, Charm Cottage Cheese, Strange Marmite, Top Cenovis, and Bottom Surströmming. The question is, if nobody opens the oven door to observe, is the lasagna really there? ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/53 "2021-09-04T07:40:03Z")
Actually I never thought of that. No, I don’t precook. So it makes sense that I should make my moist layers a bit moister. So is that three layers of noodles? Funny you should mention sloppy joes. I grew up in the US and knew them well, but completely forgot that they existed until last week. I had a bit of extra bolognaise sauce and didn’t feel like making lasagna, and then I remembered sloppy joes. So I just cooked the sauce until it was a bit thicker, added a dash of BBQ sauce and a sprinkle of sugar, and Joe’s your uncle. The kids really loved it! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/54 "2021-09-04T07:52:19Z")
If you’re making a $50 pan of lasagna, DON’T fuck it up by putting cottage cheese in it. This is not to say that I don’t LIKE cottage cheese, but I like it served chilled, with a big spoonful of applesauce on it. Or filled with pineapple chunks. The only reason to put it in a lasagna is to save money, because it costs less than ricotta. And that’s no reason at all. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2021, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816/55 "2021-09-04T13:05:34Z")
I do five layers of noodles. From bottom: pasta, bolognese, pasta, bechamel, pasta, bolognese, pasta, bechamel, pasta, bolognese. Like this, but this is the fresh pasta style I typically make: > **[The Lasagne Lesson](https://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/The-Lasagne-Lesson/)** > > Layer by layer, the Simili sisters of Bologna craft an Italian classic so rich in flavor that it puts its American counterparts to shame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-cheese-filling/944816.md?page=2)