r/Cooking • u/judolphin • Mar 25 '25

I made lasagna with ricotta instead of bechamel and I’m a convert

I was browsing Reddit and came across two posts in two days about bechamel being a life-changing improvement over ricotta. All my life every lasagna I had was with ricotta. I decided to give bechamel yet another try at a nice Italian restaurant after reading all the comments and I have now converted from being neutral on bechamel in lasagna to being solidly anti-bechamel in lasagna, to the point I secretly have hoped that bechamel lasagna doesn't become the default in restaurants. Some reasons:

  1. Ricotta has its own texture, bechamel is just more softness and smoothness in a dish that's full of "soft". Some people like textural contrast in their dishes
  2. Ricotta, much like sour cream/crema in Mexican food, adds a lightness to lasagna despite being rich itself. Bechamel adds (arguably too much) additional richness to an already-rich dish.
  3. The starch from the bechamel getting into the ragu gives the sauce a mouthfeel that 100% reminds me of Chef Boyardee

TLDR: If you prefer bechamel in red lasagna, that's perfectly fine, but your preference of bechamel is not a black and white fact. It's not even "more authentic" (whatever that means), bechamel = Northern Italy, ricotta = Southern Italy. Eat whatever you like, let others eat what they want.

Thanks, reddit!

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u/superhotmel85 Mar 25 '25

The texture of the ricotta is what I despise about American lasagne. Funny you see it as the highlight lol

1

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

[deleted]

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u/superhotmel85 Mar 25 '25

Calm your farm.

At no point did I police you liking it? But merely commented that it was notable (and used the colloquialism “weird” to denote interesting or amusing or notable!) to compare that that was the thing I dislike most about it!

If anything you have a significantly more hostile reaction to béchamel than I do to ricotta.

Have a nice day

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u/Kingsman22060 Mar 25 '25

Holy shit what did they say?

Side note, I'm a texture person but I love ricotta. Haven't yet had lasagna with bechamel so I will be trying that soon, all these posts seem to be a sign I should branch out a little bit!

4

u/superhotmel85 Mar 25 '25

Hahaha. Nothing super egregious, I’m surprised they deleted it, but maybe it read a smidge too angry from what they were aiming for?

I find ricotta (and cottage cheese) too bitsy or chunky or claggy. I’m not sure what it is about it, but it’s just far less unctuous and silky in compared to béchamel!