lasagna

I've had good lasagna here twice -- once made by a friend (a Brit!) and a local pub serves a delicious homemade lasagna.  Both are pretty much what I'm used to -- lots of layers, red sauce, a little ricotta, etc. -- and pretty much like kwilkins' -- if you can't cut it like a cake, it ain't a good lasagna in my opinion!   

Bechamel sauce is disgusting!   

I do a sort of hybrid lasagne... American inside, with mozzarella & ricotta, but with a bechamel topping... best of both worlds!
My sauce isnt red, though... it's brown.  I hate cooked tomatoes, so i make a VERY BEEFY bolognese sauce for the lasagne.   It's got tomatoes in it, but also a lot of beef stock.

Funnily enough I bought some lasagna/e sheets last week but haven't made one in years. I've always made it with bechamel sauce though ... mmmmm. The other kind seems too dry to me.

Lola,

I agree with you completely--if you can't cut it as if it were a thick cake, it's not worth eating. Here, it seems that lasagna is semi-gruel.

Here, it seems that lasagna is semi-gruel.

I think your friends just don't know how to make lasagne, Suzanne! I've never had gruel-ish stuff! 

Lola,

I agree with you completely--if you can't cut it as if it were a thick cake, it's not worth eating. Here, it seems that lasagna is semi-gruel.

why not make it the way you like it then?! 

Liz, I never got the chance. My mom and I frequently talked about her writing all her recipes down for me, but we always decided it could wait. As it's turned out, it couldn't wait.

You don't really need a recipe... it's really simple.  Just put what you want in it, in whatever layers you like!

I certainly dont follow a recipe for mine... i just make it up as i go along. 

Suzanne, if you can describe it, maybe we can Google around and find you a recipe.  Probably won't be exactly like your mother's but I'm sure you could make one that would be pretty close. When your arm is better, of course, you probably don't feel up to it right now I know.

I make vegetarian lasagna, but the best ones have meat.  My Noni's recipe used her meat sauce, which had veal, pork, a few other things, tomatoes, spices, tons of garlic... and was slow-cooked for a few days.  Then there were at least three different cheeses.. and homemade pasta.

I'll never make anything so good!  Hope Suzanne's recipe doesn't require so much work...

I just bought some 'no cook' lasagna noodles, and am deeply suspicious.  Do they really work?  The noodles are short, too... not sure how I'll deal with them.  Maybe bake everything in soup dishes...

I just bought some 'no cook' lasagna noodles, and am deeply suspicious.  Do they really work?  The noodles are short, too... not sure how I'll deal with them.  Maybe bake everything in soup dishes...

they're not 'noodles'!  They're 'lasagne'! 
I was suspicious of the no-cook stuff too, but they do work... if there is enough moisture in your pie.  If your sauce is relatively dry and you dont use bechamel, there may not be enough moisture to soak into the pasta.

I never use 'no-cook' noodles with the ricotta-style lasagna.  My lasagna certainly isn't dry, but without the bechamel, it's not liquid-y enough to cook the noodles.  I think I've used fresh noodles in my recipe and it's been fine, but never dry without cooking first.

they're not 'noodles'!  They're 'lasagne'! 
I was suspicious of the no-cook stuff too, but they do work... if there is enough moisture in your pie.  If your sauce is relatively dry and you dont use bechamel, there may not be enough moisture to soak into the pasta.

Yep, that was a problem for me when I made my mother's recipe here in the UK with the no-cook sheets--they were still crispy when it was meant to be done cooking.  Then the next time I cooked them and they got all stuck together.  I couldn't get them apart to use.  The next time I made mine a lot more saucier and that helped cook the lasagne sheets.

I never cook the noodles first and I think that's what makes my lasagna "right" for my tastes.  The noodles soak up most of the juice from the sauce and that makes for quite a firm lasagna which cuts like a cake.

Sigh...shame my DH doesn't like pasta or cheese.     I never get to make lasagna unless I'm in the mood to eat the entire thing myself over the course of a week!

Sigh...shame my DH doesn't like pasta or cheese.     I never get to make lasagna unless I'm in the mood to eat the entire thing myself over the course of a week!

My bf doesn't like pasta either. Or cooked cheese.  :\\\'(