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lasagna with Bechamel Sauce

3K views 34 replies 12 participants last post by  Iceman 
#1 ·
was watching a cooking show that used Bechamel Sauce so it started me thinking has anyone ever made a lasagna with a ricotta béchamel sauce?
 
#2 ·
They make it with a Béchamel sauce in Italy.  I have made it with a Béchamel sauce, I found it to be lighter, as in not as heavy as ricotta. I like Ricotta so I stick with the old recipe that I always used. If you wanted to make a Ricotta Béchamel sauce would be fine. You could also just water down the Ricotta with some cream, eggs, garlic and parmesan cheese. This way your adding more quality ingredients instead of a Béchamel. Like I said it does make the dish a bit lighter, if thats what your looking for........Enjoy the Holiday........Chef Bill
 
#3 ·
They make it with a Béchamel sauce in Italy. I have made it with a Béchamel sauce, I found it to be lighter, as in not as heavy as ricotta. I like Ricotta so I stick with the old recipe that I always used. If you wanted to make a Ricotta Béchamel sauce would be fine. You could also just water down the Ricotta with some cream, eggs, garlic and parmesan cheese. This way your adding more quality ingredients instead of a Béchamel. Like I said it does make the dish a bit lighter, if thats what your looking for........Enjoy the Holiday........Chef Bill
I don't understand this. Bechamel IS a quality ingredient if it is made well and with quality ingredients. Ricotta is milk, bechamel is milk. Also I find bechamel to be heavier than ricotta since it contains roux.
 
#4 ·
I don't understand this. Bechamel IS a quality ingredient if it is made well and with quality ingredients. Ricotta is milk, bechamel is milk. Also I find bechamel to be heavier than ricotta since it contains roux.
My point was that Ricotta is a more pure way of adding something to the dish. A Béchamel sauce is a Mother sauce, so if their adding Ricotta it would make it a Ricotta cheese sauce. I'm just saying I like Ricotta, eggs, parmesan, garlic and parsley as the two of three cheeses in Lasagna.
 
#5 ·
My point was that Ricotta is a more pure way of adding something to the dish. A Béchamel sauce is a Mother sauce, so if their adding Ricotta it would make it a Ricotta cheese sauce. I'm just saying I like Ricotta, eggs, parmesan, garlic and parsley as the two of three cheeses in Lasagna.
Stating that you like eggs parmesan and whatever is a valid personal opinion of course. But saying that ricotta is a better quality ingredient or that it's more pure than bechamel is not factual information.
 
#8 ·
I'm sorry, but I never understood béchamel in lasagna. Sorry ... it's me. I don't / won't do it. My lasagna is fantastic. I'm not going to do it.


This was just an OPINION. ... YMMV.
 
#10 ·
I discovered lasagna with Ricotta only when I moved from Europe to the USA. My own personal opinion that I share with me, myself and I is that using ricotta in lieu of béchamel is a shortcut but it doesn't come anywhere near "real" lasagna (which is made with béchamel).
I am wrong to think then that this ricotta lasagna might be an american/italian invention similar to "sunday gravy"?
I'm sorry, but I never understood béchamel in lasagna. Sorry ... it's me. I don't / won't do it. My lasagna is fantastic. I'm not going to do it.

This was just an OPINION. ... YMMV.
I don't understand curry. But that's what people eat in other parts of the world. It doesn't need to be understood, it just needs to be eaten.
 
#11 ·
I guess the multi quote doesn't work.

I'm also not sure adding eggs or cream would make it "lighter," either.
No one said that eggs and cream make it lighter! The Ricotta is thick to begin with. When you add the eggs, parm, and whatever else you put in the mixture will loosen it up making it easier to spread. When a Lasagna is made with Béchamel it will be a "Less" dense dish. When a Lasagne is made with Ricotta it is a "More" dense dish.
 
#12 ·
KK ... I used the phrase "I don't understand ... " instead of speaking freely and being seriously insulting.

Béchamel is French. I ain'te using anything French in my lasagna. At least not blatantly
 
#14 ·
The Italian version of who created this sauce is that it was created in the 14th century and was introduced by the Italian chefs of Catherine de Medici (1519-1589), the Italian-born Queen of France. In 1533, as part of an Italian-French dynastic alliance, Catherine was married to Henri, Duke of Orleans (the future King Henri II of France. It is because of the Italian cooks and pastry makers who followed her to France that the French came to know the taste of Italian cooking that they introduced to the French court.

Antonin Carème(1784-1833), celebrated chef and author, wrote in 1822: "The cooks of the second half of the 1700's came to know the taste of Italian cooking that Catherine de'Medici introduced to the French court." Béchamel Sauce was invented by Duke Philippe De Mornay (1549-1623), Governor of Saumur, and Lord of the Plessis Marly in the 1600s. Béchamel Sauce is a variation of the basic white sauce of Mornay. He is also credited with being the creator of Mornay Sauce, Sauce Chasseur, Sauce Lyonnaise, and Sauce Porto.

Marquis Louis de Béchamel (1603-1703), a 17th century financier who held the honorary post of chief steward of King Louis XIV's (1643-1715) household, is also said to have invented Béchamel Sauce when trying to come up with a new way of serving and eating dried cod. There are no historical records to verify that he was a gourmet, a cook, or the inventor of Béchamel Sauce. The 17th century Duke d'Escars supposedly is credited with stating: "That fellow Béchameil has all the luck! I was serving breast of chicken a la crème more than 20 years before he was born, but I have never had the chance of giving my name to even the most modest sauce."

It is more likely that Chef Francois Pierre de la Varenne (1615-1678) created Béchamel Sauce. He was a court chef during King Louis XIV's (1643-1715) reign, during the same time that Béchamel was there. He is often cited as being the founder of haute cuisine (which would define classic French cuisine). La Varenne wrote Le Cuisinier Francois (The True French Cook), which included Béchamel Sauce. It is thought that he dedicated it to Béchamel as a compliment. La Varenne recipes used roux made from flour and butter (or other animal fat) instead of using bread as a thickener for sauces.

From here.

Whatever the history, not including an ingredient in a dish because it doesn't apparently fit the ethnicity is just stupid. In my opinion, of course.
 
#16 · (Edited)
was watching a cooking show that used Bechamel Sauce so it started me thinking has anyone ever made a lasagna with a ricotta béchamel sauce?
I am not familiar with ricotta bechamel sauce.. I am familiar with a layer of bechamel sauce and a layer or two of tomato based (meat) sauce. The riicotta cheese is incorporated into the cheese layers. Most often, when I think of white/bechamel sauce in a lasagna or lasagna like dish, I think of vegetable lasagna, or Pastitsio.
 
#19 ·
Hey Jake ... opinions are opinions. That is correct. I however, did not use the word "stupid". I don't give a rat's tail bit of difference for whatever you use in your amateur dishes. I'm happy for whatever it is that you like. In my professional dishes, for which I earn a nice reward, I will use what I like.
Well that's not nice. There are home cooks and there are professional cooks, what difference does it make whether you are pro or home cook? I've never heard of an "amateur" cook.

I must say though that a professional cook should presumably know what a lasagna bolognese is and how it is made, regardless of whether he likes it or not. I don't see the logic in not liking a dish that is traditional in Italy because it has a french sauce, and on the same token how one claims their lasagna dish to be "professional" if it doesn't actually exist in Italy.
 
#23 ·
I bet the OP is thinking " I ask a simple freaking question" and get nothing but bull s-it. Screw it I'll have a hamburger instead........P.S. OP that was bull s-hit not Buffalo.
Actually he got lots of feedback specific to his question. This is what we do on a forum, we talk about a topic with each other, we engage in culinary conversation. I think it's a fascinating conversation.
 
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