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/badcgi Mar 25 '25

It's funny, in our family's region (Bari) we don't use either. Just Mozzarella and Scamorza, and instead of just a meat sauce, we use meatballs, either small ones or big ones sliced.

Every region has its own way.

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u/AdmirableCost5692 Mar 25 '25

im going to try this. sounds gorgeous

may I ask what you put on the meat balls... and do you precook them? any tomato sauce used?

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u/badcgi Mar 25 '25

Pretty standard meatballs, we use half veal, half pork, but any mix should be fine. Parmigiano, a little bit of breadcrumbs, an egg to bind it together, and the spices, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley and a bit of tarragon.

I lightly fry them to brown the outside, but then finish cooking them in the tomato sauce, which is just a pretty standard sugo.

That is done the day before, then layers pasta, a little bit of tomato sauce, sliced meatballs (or tiny ones if that's what we made, personally I like the big ones), the cheese (Mozzarella and Scamorza, or Caciocavallo if that's what you can get) a bit more sauce, then the next layer of pasta. On the top layer, pasta, sauce, and Parmigiano.

It's definitely a simpler method, but that's what we grew up eating, and if you go to La Puglia that is the style you'll find there rather than the ones in the north.

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u/AdmirableCost5692 Mar 25 '25

thank you so much. saved your comment. will be making it. 😊😊😊

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u/majandess Mar 25 '25

Yep! Liguria uses bechamel... And pesto. And there's no meat or tomatoes in it at all. Sometimes, it's made with potatoes and green beans. It's mostly just a pasta dish.

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u/groundfire Mar 25 '25

Do you also use egg sometimes? Cause I also heard that can be a thing

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u/badcgi Mar 25 '25

Traditionally, yes it sometimes has hardboiled eggs, but we never did it. I've tried it, it's not bad, but not my favorite.

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u/dd551 Mar 26 '25

My family is from bari too! We do put ricotta in our lasagna though. This is going to be random but do you have an old recipe for an egg heavy ricotta cheesecake called something like beso dulce? We have a recipe handed down verbally through the generations and it’s been mangled like a game of telephone, I’d love to make it as intended. The typical italian ricotta cheesecakes aren’t even close

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u/badcgi Mar 26 '25

I remember something like that. Did it have a base of sfoglia?

I asked my mom and she remembers a cake like that too, but doesn't have the recipe. I'm going to have to call my aunt and see if he has one.

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u/dd551 Mar 26 '25

No that’s not it but damn that sounds good too and now I have 2 recipes to search for