Lol, if you haven’t had it made with cottage cheese, it probably does seem rather scandalous!
Once you add egg and parsley to it, it really tastes just fine. To me, the only difference is the texture. I didn’t know about the reduced calories and fat until two days ago, when I found the article about the pros/cons.
All the Italians will be aghast but my mil had a very old better homes and gardens recipe. Calls for cottage cheese and cubed Swiss cheese. That is the version my husband likes because he likes how his mom made everything lol!
That’s how I make mine. Although I usually use ziti noodles and just mix everything up.
My daughter who is married to a man of Italian descent, hers is very different. Very cheesy, ricotta, very little meat sauce, the red sauce is ladled on top after baking.
It’s very good except that my daughter eats meat free most of the time and now uses impossible meat. They think it tastes just like meat, spoiler alert it doesn’t and is very salty. It’s all good because I’m not cooking!
Oh another no-no for me - egg in lasagna - never
Why does she bother with fake meat? I’ve never mixed dairy with Me products but no one seems to miss the meat.
That’s a good suggestion. I think it would be better.
Texture is definitely different with cottage cheese, and my husband prefers ricotta. Since I was raised with lasagna (my mother’s go-to for church pot luck dinners) made with cottage cheese, I like it either way. I do find the cottage cheese easier to spread.
I always put an egg in the ricotta mixture. Ive know a couple of second generation Italian Americans who put hard boiled eggs in lasagna, I think it’s a Sicilian thing.
Yes, I put an egg in the cheese mixture as well.
Who else has practiced the “bachelor” method of making 1 huge pot of meat sauce and from that base have pasta, lasagna and chicken parm (shake and bake of course) as menu items for the week?
We always do this. When we make a big pot of meat sauce - we turn it into 2 distinct meals - first meal isjust the meatballs in the sauce (with a nice Italian bread) then the second meal is pasta with the rest of the sauce.
My 22 year old browns a pound of beef, mixes with a box of cooked pasta and a jar of sauce. But it lasts him one dinner and maybe one lunch lol.
I’ve never made sauce with ground beef, just with meatballs, sausage, Braciole, or just marinara. I didn’t like ground beef in it as a kid.
We do two styles of meat sauce - one with meatballs and possibly other meats (like braciole) and one that is a quick Bolognese (using ground beef).
We do this (the cook a base once, turn into multiple things) with chicken. Specifically, the freakishly huge rotisserie chicken from Costco. Night one is actual rotisserie chicken. Night two is chicken enchiladas, “pulling” chicken for the remains. If I only make a small dish of enchiladas, there’s enough for night three - either chicken salad sandwiches or mix with BBQ and have chicken BBQ sliders or make chicken soup with the carcass and leftover chicken pieces.
(Sorry to sidetrack from Lasagna. And to stay on topic - we make a giant thing of meat sauce. I’m usually not patient enough to make lasagna with it, but we’ll do pasta/meat sauce for dinner, then a sort of ziti with meat sauce casserole type thing that I can throw the extra in and put in the freezer to pull out whenever. I’m just not patient enough to layer nicely with pasta noodles, so I mix it all together.)
Inspired by this thread I put together lasagna last Thursday night since we were having friends over Friday night to meet our new GD. I have been making lasagna for many years and everyone loves it. One thing I always use instead of ricotta cheese is marscapone. I also use hot Italian sausage in my recipe. I went to an Italian market and bought the cheeses and fresh pasta and I think this batch was better than ever.
Oh my. My mouth is watering. I used to think that Mexican food was my favorite comfort food but in the last few years have decided that it’s actually anything Italian with a red sauce. You’ve combined all the holy grails for me…spicy, fresh, and good cheese.
I love lasagna. I make two types - one “traditional” with a meat sauce, ricotta (mixed with egg), mozzarella, spicy Italian sausage and no-boil noodles. The second is “healthy” - with no-boil noodles, ricotta mixed with egg, sweet potato puree, ground turkey, tomato sauce, spinach and mozzarella. It is delicious!
Have to say that I use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Makes the lasagna lighter and not as rich, which I prefer. I also make scalloped potatoes using whole milk instead of cream or half and host (gasp!). I find that I can’t tolerate really rich foods anymore. Recently ordered steak at a restaurant and it came drenched in butter with creamed spinach - the whole dish was so rich that I couldn’t even eat it.
If anyone is interested, this is a great dairy free gratin recipe. Was originally from Fine Cooking mag.
My mom (British) made lasagne using a recipe from her Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Cottage cheese mixed with egg, parsley, and Parmesan cheese.
I think it tastes better if refrigerated and then baked the next day. Cover the top with greased foil and then remove it toward the end of baking and cover the top with cheese.