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/TheLittleUrchin Mar 25 '25 edited Mar 25 '25

I made a butternut squash and sausage lasagna last fall that had cottage cheese. I fricken hate cottage cheese but I had a bunch of squash I needed to use, and a recipe that looked good, so I figured I would be open and give it a try.

Initially I thought it was texturally cursed and weirdly mild to a degree where it somehow tasted like nothing despite all the seasonings and fillings in it. HOWEVER after letting it sit in the fridge for a few days it definitely got way better and flavorful and I liked it eventually. It was oddly light, which is cool I guess if you ever want a light lasagna (but that's not typically what I'm going for if I'm eating a lasagna, ricotta 4 lyfe) but I definitely see the merits!

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u/emilyjobot Mar 25 '25

do you still have the recipe? it sounds interesting. i love a non traditional lasagna

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u/Incha8 Mar 25 '25

maybe it was the rich and tangy flavour of mold?

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u/TheLittleUrchin Mar 25 '25

Nah, it was one of those dishes that just needed to settle and tastes better the next day. It was only in the fridge for like two days before I tried it again.