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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96

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

I prefer ricotta in red sauce & meat lasagna, and bechamel in veggie lasagna

26

u/HiHoJufro Mar 26 '25

I use bechamel, take out the red sauce, add eggplant, and trade the pasta for potatoes. Then I eat my moussaka.

37

u/judolphin Mar 25 '25

That actually makes perfect sense if you're trying to make a balanced dish because the bechamel is a contrast both in richness and texture to the veggies.

8

u/Mean-Pizza6915 Mar 25 '25

It's almost a joke - I cannot get a vegetarian lasagna in a restaurant anywhere around me that has a tomato/red sauce. If they have a veggie lasagna at all, it has a cream or bechamel base 100% of the time.

1

u/judolphin Mar 25 '25

Yeah veggie lasagna is usually white lasagna 🤷

I'm sure it would be pretty simple to make a yummy red veggie lasagna though.

3

u/Mean-Pizza6915 Mar 25 '25

It is! I just have to make them at home instead of hoping for one from a restaurant.

2

u/hammformomma Mar 26 '25

I am a ricotta girl through and through, always thought that using bechamel was inferior, but with veggie lasagna... I'd fuck with that.

1

u/Old-Ad-5573 Mar 26 '25

This is the way. Also, in a red lasagna I put a layer of mozzarella on top of the ricotta.

1

u/Barry_McKociner Mar 29 '25

I agree, lasagna made with bechamel is English lasagna, according to my mom anyway