# Lasagna: ricotta or bechamel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556 "2019-08-12T14:44:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/21 "2019-08-12T21:41:26Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Small curd cottage cheese for me. > > Dennis Ditto this. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/22 "2019-08-12T21:43:22Z")
Cook’s Country used cottage cheese and heavy cream in their quick lasagna: > **[Hearty Beef Lasagna | Cook's Country](https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cookscountry/videos/3953-hearty-beef-lasagna)** > > Vegetarian lasagna has its place. This is not that place. Brian ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/23 "2019-08-12T22:31:55Z")
Around here, some people use cottage cheese :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/24 "2019-08-12T22:33:17Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Cook’s Country used cottage cheese and heavy cream in their quick lasagna: > [Hearty Beef Lasagna | Cook's Country](https://www.cookscountry.com/videos/3953-hearty-beef-lasagna) > > Brian This is the single thing I do not listen to the folks at America’s Test Kitchen on. There is no way I’m putting cottage cheese in a lasagna. My Nana would never forgive me. Ricotta. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/25 "2019-08-12T23:04:30Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Ricotta, but not straight ricotta: a mixture of ricotta, beaten raw egg, herbs, and a little bit of milk. Thin enough to spread before cooking but it firms up by the time the lasagna is cooked. Last time I made lasagna, I “discovered” that putting the ricotta mixture into a pastry bag (well, technically a zip-lock bag with the end snipped off so it was pastry-bag-esque) and piping it out worked way better than trying to spread it with a spatula. Which never works. Ricotta, but I’m not opposed to bechamel. I am opposed to cottage cheese. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/26 "2019-08-12T23:32:28Z")
My mother would sometimes use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. It’s why I didn’t attend her funeral. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/27 "2019-08-12T23:38:04Z")
Ricotta. Only had the Béchamel once. It was at a very nice Italian restaurant. I was disappointed. I like my lasagna heavy and firm. Same for manicotti and ravioli. Ricotta, with a few herbs in the cheese. Made spaghetti from scratch yesterday. My Wife doesn’t see the difference between that and the boxed stuff. She’s away for the week, so it’s a special treat for me. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/28 "2019-08-12T23:39:21Z")
I love lasagna and I love small curd cottage cheese. But together? GAACKKKK. Meat and ricotta please, with tomato sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/29 "2019-08-12T23:39:33Z")
There is nothing, NOTHING, more disappointing than ordering the lasagna at a new restaurant and getting a bechamel version. Ugh :mad:. Now I make sure to ask. Bechamel lasagna is of the devil. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/30 "2019-08-12T23:42:02Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > This is the single thing I do not listen to the folks at America’s Test Kitchen on. There is no way I’m putting cottage cheese in a lasagna. My Nana would never forgive me. Ricotta. It’s not the single thing (there are several), but I’m in agreement. I do look for ricotta with no thickeners (xantham gum, etc.). Just milk, vinegar, salt. If I plan in advance, I’ll even strain it. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/31 "2019-08-12T23:58:58Z")
take the small (or large) curd cottage cheese and plus it in a food processor…instant fake ricotta. and just as good…smooth it out !! ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/32 "2019-08-13T00:58:26Z")
I’m a bad Italian-descended American because I didn’t even know bechamel was a lasagne thing until a few years ago. Ricotta all the way. Although the bechamel intrigues me. Sometimes a ricotta one gets too dried out and crunchy. Any frozen lasagne or chain restaurants offer a bechamel one that I could try a small portion of? If I made a whole tray of it and it sucked, I would hate to throw it away. And as I’ve never encountered it in a restaurant, I don’t know think I’d find it in one of my local Italian places. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/33 "2019-08-13T01:21:38Z")
I don’t think I’ve even had bechamel in a lasagna. I’ve made it both with ricotta and a ricotta/cottage cheese mix. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/34 "2019-08-13T02:03:21Z")
We used to have a poster that occasionally posted recipies as the angry chef that were hilarious. His lasagna was the best I’ve had. The last couple of times I’ve searched for it I couldn’t find it any more. I just googled it again and it was \*\* [RickJay](https://rickthegreat.wordpress.com/2010/06/15/lasagna-the-answer/) \*\* I really want him to write a cookbook. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/35 "2019-08-13T02:46:51Z")
So I think the difference, broadly speaking, is a north-south divide. Southern Italian and Sicilian families are more likely to make lasagne with ricotta, and were also more likely to immigrate to the USA. Northern Italians favour the besciamella style, and made up a greater proportion of European migrants to the UK and Australia. (Similarly, the earlier wave of Italian migration to the US happened before the invention of the espresso machine, so these families opened diners and served drip coffee. The later immigrants took their taste for espresso with them, and the delightful cafe culture of Melbourne is the result.) I have served my besciamella bolognese lasagne to lots of Americans, many of whom have never tried it before, to great acclaim. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/36 "2019-08-13T03:46:48Z")
I don’t, as a rule, like bechamel sauce. It’s, fine I guess, but bland and vaguely like eating warm mayo. Ricotta for me. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/37 "2019-08-13T04:09:15Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Ricotta, but not straight ricotta: a mixture of ricotta, beaten raw egg, herbs, and a little bit of milk. Thin enough to spread before cooking but it firms up by the time the lasagna is cooked. Right, like this. > [@amarinth](#): > > Last time I made lasagna, I “discovered” that putting the ricotta mixture into a pastry bag (well, technically a zip-lock bag with the end snipped off so it was pastry-bag-esque) and piping it out worked way better than trying to spread it with a spatula. Which never works. It also is a great trick for manicotti. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/38 "2019-08-13T04:26:13Z")
> [@Fair\_Rarity](#): > > I’m a bad Italian-descended American because I didn’t even know bechamel was a lasagne thing until a few years ago. Ricotta all the way. Although the bechamel intrigues me. Sometimes a ricotta one gets too dried out and crunchy. Any frozen lasagne or chain restaurants offer a bechamel one that I could try a small portion of? If I made a whole tray of it and it sucked, I would hate to throw it away. And as I’ve never encountered it in a restaurant, I don’t know think I’d find it in one of my local Italian places. No lasagna sucks, bechamel, ricotta, or filled with whatever craziness you want to fill it with. That said, I didn’t think I liked lasagna much until I found the Simili Sisters’ recipe for it in an old issue of Saveur c. 2000. [Here’s a recipe for their excellent bolognese](http://www.itchefs-gvci.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=586&Itemid=974), which is one component of it. The whole recipe and story can be found [here](https://www.saveur.com/tags/issue-53/) (site says 2008, but the original recipe was published in '99 or '00), but the site is not adblocker friendly, and the recipe is broken up into four parts (one for the spinach lasagna, one for the besciamella, one for the bolognese, and one for the the constructed lasagna.) The first time I made this recipe, my taste buds and my girlfriend’s tastebuds were just blown. I just could not believe how something so simple (but time consuming) can be. Just concentrated flavors of beef and creamy, parmesan-y umami. I swear to god that first lasagna I made was the best dish I ever made in my life. I haven’t been able to perfectly recreate it since – I was living in Hungary at the time, so the beef was a bit different, and perhaps even the parmesan I used was different (actually, I remember I subbed a grana padano), but holy shit, just that bolognese was so concentrated and de-fucking-licious. My SO and I at the time just could not stop eating it straight from the pot. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/39 "2019-08-13T04:55:39Z")
My mother’s family came from Naples and I’ve never had a version cooked for me that didn’t use ricotta (pronounced with the New York Italian dialect). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556/40 "2019-08-13T05:27:10Z")
I voted “both”, but then remembered I’m much more likely to use a Mornay sauce than a plain besciamella . But spinach noodles, always. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lasagna-ricotta-or-bechamel/838556.md?page=3)