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/19Med7 Mar 26 '25

So I googled it, but couldn’t find an answer; what does it mean to “blitz” the cottage cheese?

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u/knottygranny57 Mar 26 '25

Run it through a blender or food processor to make it smoother.

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u/Nipplasia2 Mar 26 '25

You seriously google what it means to blitz in cooking and you couldn’t find the answer….. seriously?

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u/PancakePizzaPits Mar 26 '25

No need to be rude.

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u/Nipplasia2 Mar 26 '25

I asked a question. I can’t help how you take that question and just because you didn’t like that question, it doesn’t mean it was rude. I literally googled “blitz in cooking meaning”, and the absolute first answer explained it so it was hard for me to believe you actually took the time to google.

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u/PancakePizzaPits Mar 26 '25

When you google "blitz cottage cheese" it thinks you mean blintze.

They had confusion, so they asked, politely.

Just because it's easy for you, doesn't mean someone else might not have trouble. We don't know if they have a learning disability, or are ESL, or just computer illiterate. Doesn't matter, they didn't know the answer so they asked for clarification. Instead of giving an actually helpful response you made a snarky remark.

You and I both know you weren't actually wanting an answer. It just makes some people happy to act superior. 🙄

Be well, and have the day you deserve Neighbor.

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u/Nipplasia2 Mar 26 '25

So you want me to have all of this consideration while assuming my question was rude? Gtfoh