# Why does ricotta at home never taste right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2013, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370 "2013-01-16T10:42:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/1 "2013-01-16T10:42:13Z")
I can’t ever seem to get homemade lasagna tasting right, I think it is the ricotta that is off compared to restaurants and frozen. Most of the ricotta you’ll see in the grocery is very bland, for whatever reason adding salt and spices it still tastes kind of bland in the finished lasagna. Am I missing something here? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/2 "2013-01-16T11:42:42Z")
If the question is why does your lasagne taste funny, maybe it’s because you shouldn’t be using ricotta at all? I’d never even thought of using ricotta in lasagne, though a quick googling seems to show some recipes do. But IMO proper lasagne cheeses are tasty, parmesan and mozzarella. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/3 "2013-01-16T11:51:15Z")
First, try using ricotta made from whole milk, not part skim. Second, try using several cheeses. I use a mix of mozzarella, provolone, romano, and parmesan. In decreasing order, my cheese mix is mozzarella, ricotta, provolone, parmesan, and romano. Don’t use the stuff in the cans, either buy the parmesan and romano in plastic tubs, or grate it yourself. I put quite a lot of chives and parsley in the cheese mix. Parsley has a light but definite flavor. I use ground beef, onion, bell pepper, mushroom, and garlic. Sometimes I replace some of the ground beef with pork sausage, just plain breakfast sausage is fine. Cook this all together, except for the garlic, which should be added at the end of the cooking time. The meat should be completely brown throughout, and the onion and bell pepper should be quite limp. In the dairy case, you can find tubes of French bread dough. If you will bake this, and then make garlic bread from it, then it will make the meal better. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/4 "2013-01-16T11:54:38Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > If the question is why does your lasagne taste funny, maybe it’s because you shouldn’t be using ricotta at all? I’d never even thought of using ricotta in lasagne, though a quick googling seems to show some recipes do. But IMO proper lasagne cheeses are tasty, parmesan and mozzarella. WHAT??? HERETIC! Yes, you’re supposed to use ricotta in lasagna. What’s more, you’re supposed to use tomato based sauce in lasagna, not bechamel. You can’t make lasagna without ricotta. And cottage cheese in lasagna is just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/5 "2013-01-16T11:59:58Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > WHAT??? HERETIC! > > Yes, you’re supposed to use ricotta in lasagna. What’s more, you’re supposed to use tomato based sauce in lasagna, not bechamel. You can’t make lasagna without ricotta. > > And cottage cheese in lasagna is just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Hear, hear! ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/6 "2013-01-16T12:01:21Z")
Ricotta \*is \*kind of bland. Otherwise it wouldn’t work in both pasta dishes and pastry. If your lasagna doesn’t taste the same as restaurant/frozen, it’s more likely that your sauce/seasonings/mixture of cheeses are different. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/7 "2013-01-16T12:10:49Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > WHAT??? HERETIC! > > Yes, you’re supposed to use ricotta in lasagna. What’s more, you’re supposed to use tomato based sauce in lasagna, not bechamel. You can’t make lasagna without ricotta. > > And cottage cheese in lasagna is just wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. 🙂 BOTH tomato-based and béchamel, surely? One layer meat/tomato mix, one layer béchamel and one of pasta sheets. Mmmmmm. And LOTS of cheese on top. But I’m with you on the cottage cheese. Ranks alongside the evil ones who use baking powder in pizza dough. Both Bad and Wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/8 "2013-01-16T12:43:49Z")
No, bechamel does not belong in lasagna. It belongs on chicken fried steak. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/9 "2013-01-16T12:59:16Z")
not cottage cheese! NO! It’s white like ricotta, and that’s where the resemblance ends, don’t use it it will spoil your lasagna. I know this for a fact. I mix an egg with the ricotta, and garlic, oregano, basil, and that gives it some flavor. No one has ever rejected my lasagna for bland tasting ricotta. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/10 "2013-01-16T13:04:31Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > WHAT??? HERETIC! > > Yes, you’re supposed to use ricotta in lasagna. What’s more, you’re supposed to use tomato based sauce in lasagna, not bechamel. You can’t make lasagna without ricotta. I also prefer the bechamel versions of lasagna to the ricotta ones. Very loosely, it’s a divide between Northern Italian and Southern Italian/Sicilian cooking. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but let’s just run with this explanation for simplicity’s sake. Bologna style lasagne (which is my favorite) is made with alternating layers of bolognese sauce (mostly ground beef stewed with tomatoes–it’s not a tomato sauce with meat, but a meat sauce with tomato, if that makes any sense), and bechamel with freshly grated parmesan, layered in between freshly made spinach pasta dough, made with eggs. Outside the US, this is the more usual style of lasagna that you’ll find. Ricotta-laced styles are a bit more difficult to find (and I actually can’t remember if I’ve ever seen them in Europe or elsewhere, but I’m sure they must exist.) ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/11 "2013-01-16T13:38:18Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > No, bechamel does not belong in lasagna. It belongs on chicken fried steak. Nonsense. Your dogmatic responses caused me to doubt myself for a nanosecond, but I have now consulted the bible of authentic italian cuisine, Italy’s biggest selling cookbook for the last 50 years, [The Silver Spoon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_cucchiaio_d'argento). It lists 4 types of lasagne, only one of which uses ricotta instead of bechamel, and this one is listed as ‘Aubergine and ricotta lasagne’, i.e. a veggie version. No idea what you lot in the US do to it. But in Europe, it’s routinely cooked with bechamel. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/12 "2013-01-16T14:30:08Z")
However, now I’m interested in this “chicken fried steak” of which you speak… ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/13 "2013-01-16T14:50:58Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > However, now I’m interested in this “chicken fried steak” of which you speak… Me too. Not least because I think of steak as beef, so… how do you fry steak with chicken? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/14 "2013-01-16T14:52:11Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Nonsense. > > Your dogmatic responses caused me to doubt myself for a nanosecond, but I have now consulted the bible of authentic italian cuisine, Italy’s biggest selling cookbook for the last 50 years, [The Silver Spoon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_cucchiaio_d'argento). It lists 4 types of lasagne, only one of which uses ricotta instead of bechamel, and this one is listed as ‘Aubergine and ricotta lasagne’, i.e. a veggie version. > > No idea what you lot in the US do to it. But in Europe, it’s routinely cooked with bechamel. It may be a difference between Nothern/Southern Italian (and there is no Italian cuisine , there are regional cuisines), but I have never been to a Northern Italian restaurant in NYC that even served lasagne. Mostly, I see it served in pizzerias. And Southern Italian recipes do not use bechamel- Southern Italian cuisine rarely even uses butter. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/15 "2013-01-16T15:01:57Z")
Something I learned just recently is that ricotta in Italy tastes way different than what we get here. [Relevant blog post.](http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/01/sicilian-style-pasta-with-eggplant-tomatoes-and-ricotta-salata-pasta-alla-norma.html) Anyway, I do what \*\*salinqmind \*\* does. An egg and some herbs, and I usually throw in a bit of mozzarella and Parmesan as well. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/16 "2013-01-16T15:14:28Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > However, now I’m interested in this “chicken fried steak” of which you speak… Rest assured that chicken fried steak doesn’t use bechamel, it uses gravy. They may be hard to distinquish, but gravy ain’t made in France. Chicken fried steak is thin slices of steak breaded and fried like chicken. I prefer using cubed steak, and simmering it in the gravy after frying, but to each their own. As far as lasagna, I’ve always made it with a mix of ricotta, mozzerella, and parmesan. That’s the way the Italian ladies told me to do it. ---
**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:** [January 16, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/17 "2013-01-16T15:47:32Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It may be a difference between Nothern/Southern Italian (and there is no Italian cuisine , there are regional cuisines), but I have never been to a Northern Italian restaurant in NYC that even served lasagne. Mostly, I see it served in pizzerias. And Southern Italian recipes do not use bechamel- Southern Italian cuisine rarely even uses butter. Lasagne isn’t commonly a restaurant dish in Italy – it’s what mama makes at home. Lasagne recipes vary wildly as the name only refers to the type of pasta, after all, not what it goes with. But to maintain ‘bechamel is wrong!’ is incorrect. The Silver Spoon is an amazing compendium of italian food, gathering recipes from all across Italy. I recommend it to anyone interested in Italian food. I know about regional Italian cuisines, I have a home in Puglia. Olive oil is strongly favoured over dairy in the local cuisine, but it isn’t unheard of to use butter and milk. Even bechamel crops up sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/18 "2013-01-16T15:55:16Z")
Cottage cheese in lasagna is good ! Dammit! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/19 "2013-01-16T15:58:31Z")
My off-the-boat Italian grandmother made lasagna with ricotta, and the ricotta was always blended with grated Parmesan, parsley, black pepper, and a raw egg before it went into the lasagna. And it was uniformly awesome. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370/20 "2013-01-16T16:02:25Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > My off-the-boat Italian grandmother made lasagna with ricotta, and the ricotta was always blended with grated Parmesan, parsley, black pepper, and a raw egg before it went into the lasagna. And it was uniformly awesome. Hmm I never tried a raw egg, and I never tried mixing the parmesan and mozzarella in with the ricotta. Seeing several people here advise it I’m thinking that might be the missing element, I was usually putting it on top or in its own layer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-ricotta-at-home-never-taste-right/647370.md?page=2)