I have had it both ways, but when I make it I use ricotta.

I also prefer ricotta. If you do decide to use cottage cheese though, it helps to run it through the food processor to eliminate the curds.

I prefer lasagna with thin, home-made pasta and ricotta. I find that if I slice mozzarella with a bread knife, I can get almost paper thin slices. This allows me to keep the taste and cut some calories. I like a lighter lasagna.

I use cottage cheese, and occasionaly add cream cheese as well. No idea why it would be better though. For me I use it because it is already in the house and because that is what my mom always used.
I've made it with ricotta and couldn't tell much of a difference. Maybe the cottage cheese is a little easier to distribute? Just a guess.

I wouldn't ever consider using anything but ricotta. I always thought cottage cheese was added for Americans in the 50's(?) so it would appeal to them more and most couldn't get ricotta then. I'm just guessing though. Either way, I hate the curds.

I always use Ricotta. I'm guess the cottage cheese was an American thing too.

I only use ricotta and homemade pasta, but I generally make cannelloni instead because I find it a bit easier to make and to eat. I try to use only buffalo mozzarella, since it is easier on my stomach. I use a lasagna recipe when I make cannelloni.

Lars

Cottage cheese in lasagna is what you use if you really can't get ricotta! In the "Early Iowa years" I had to drive 40 miles to buy ricotta, and made lasagna a few times using cottage cheese.
By thew ay for those of you who count...ricotta is made from thew hey....after the fatty stuff is removed....cottage cheese from whole milk and them more cream is added.
No question....ricotta!
Linda C

I'm Italian...nothing but ricotta will do.

Sue

Definitely ricotta but I will toss in some cottage cheese if I have some that needs to be used.

I used to make it with cottage cheese all the time. That was back before I even knew what ricotta was! LOL

These days I make it with ricotta, but don't really feel that one is better than the other. I like them both.

I think cottage cheese is a little richer, so maybe that is why the FN recipe preferred it over ricotta....

Linda

I've tried both, and for me as well, it's definitely, definitely ricotta.

I've used both, especially when the budget is tight, but I vastly prefer ricotta.

Figures, I'm the heathen here. I've not found much of anything that I really care for ricotta in, including Elery's canolis. To me it seems almost gritty, there's a weird texture going on there. (shrug)

Don't really care a lot for lasagna either, but when I do make it or eat it, I'd rather have cottage cheese, small curd, low fat. It kind of melts in so I don't notice the texture as much.

Annie

Ricotta, homemade from the goatÂs milk. Whole milk ricotta is made from whole milk. Quick and easy to make so when IÂm milking the goats we eat more Lasagna. WeÂll be eating Lasagna early this year. Just went out to the barn and found two new little girls that werenÂt suppose to be here until March. You can get ricotta from whey but I donÂt think itÂs as good as the whole milk ricotta. Also make homemade Mozzarella from the goats milk. IÂve made cottage cheese from the Jersey from a buttermilk base but never used it in the Lasagna. Just like that as cottage cheese. Not the same as what you buy in the store.

Like Annie, I don't care for the texture of ricotta, and none of us cares for cottage cheese, so we use a lot of shredded mozzarella and some parmesan in our non-traditional lasagne.

Cottage cheese here. I do add an egg and about 1/2 cup of shredded parm to the mixture. My recipe is an adaptation of the one in the red/white Betty Crocker cookbook. The only recipe my family likes. I like authentic lasagna and it has ricotta in it. So it's a special treat when I order out. Kind of like other people's meatloaf. I always think it tastes way better than mine, but my family disagrees. They like mine best.

I haven't seen cottage cheese called for in a lasagna recipe since the 50s!!!

Here we don't use either, we use bechamel (I add a lot of cheese to my bechamel).

I use ricotta mixed with a lot of parmesan.

...sometimes I do a bechamel.

I prefer ricotta, but I've made lasagne with half ricotta/half cottage cheese combined. Tastes great and cuts the calories.

jo

I've taken to tossing in a log (8 oz?) of goat cheese into my ricotta mix, adds a tang.

I always use cottage cheese in my Lasagna. Not so much because I prefer one over the other; simply because I always have cottage cheese at home. By using what I have at home I avoid having to run to the store for just one ingredient. Al

Part Italian here...Ricotta, always and forever, whole milk ricotta when making Lasagna, same with the mozarella. It is rich, a little does go a long way, but it's sooo good! I freeze it, then vacuum seal the rest of it, in individual servings, if not all eaten with a crowd.

June Lynn

I guess I'm a heathen too Annie! I don't really like the grittiness of Ricotta. I've always used cottage cheese in lasagna, probably because that's how I learned to make it from my mom. We used to make ridiculous amounts of it for fund raising dinners for my youth group and no one ever complained about the cottage cheese.

Maybe I'll have to make some cannelloni or something smaller with ricotta just to try it again.

Like Colleen, I prefer a bechamel sauce. When I started cooking, I used cottage cheese, though I did cream it in the blender, then discovered ricotta (gourmet cooking!). I do like ricotta, especially in cannoli, but I really only like lasagna with a bechamel sauce, it's a whole different experience, creamier, and tomato doesn't overwhelm.

I agree about the bechamel, as it's so much lighter, and less brick-like. I had lasagna in a place in Rome, and was astounded at how delicate it was, as opposed to the heavily sauced, heavily cheese-laden dish I'd been making at home.

I make frequently make homemade yogurt in my oven and use the left over whey for making ricotta. For lasagna I love the fresh flavor and slight sweetness of ricotta next to the acidity of tomato sauce.

In my lasagna I prefer to layer the noodles with ricotta, meat sauce and mozzarella, with a sprinkle of romano on top.

kandm, how do you make ricotta from whey? I've been throwing it out.

Well first, it cannot be made from whey that is formed from acidifying milk. The reason is that the acid will remove all the extra protein so there won't be any left for the ricotta curd , ie the recooked curd. I only make ricotta from the whey left over after making yogurt (which I make in my oven using a light bulb) since I use bacteria culture rather than acid to curdle the milk.

After making yogurt, strain and set the whey aside, leaving it at room temperature for 24 hours to acidify. After that you want to cook it at near boiling temperature to curdle the remaining protein. My grandmother adds lemon juice to the whey to ensure all of the protein curdles but I don't like the flavor. You just strain the curd with cheese cloth and you will have ricotta.

I am another heathen here that uses cottage cheese in my lasagna. I also add an egg, a handfull of mozzerella and some parmesan cheese and oragano in my mixture. Will have to try it sometime with the ricotta, I never have used it before.

Stacie

I prefer Ricotta (always extra smooth) to cottage cheese. Sometimes I use a Bechamel instead of the Ricotta. I prefer Bechamel when I don't use ant meat. Just tomato sauce, Bechamel and fresh moz, very delicate.

Cottage Cheese???? Never heard of this!

I have used both, but also have used sour cream and cream cheese. Just whatever I have on hand.

Sue

whole milk ricotta always.

Thanks Kandm. I'm going to try it next week. I should have clarified but the whey I am pouring down the drain is from draining yogurt. I usually have at least a quart.

You brought back starving newlywed-college days! Then I used cottage cheese. Now I use ricotta.

Hmmm. I make ricotta from the whey after I make mozzarella cheese and I acidify the milk using citric acid when I make mozzarella. I use rennet also. It comes out fine but I don't get a huge amount of ricotta. A gallon of milk makes about a pound of mozzarella and I get a cup and a half, maybe, of ricotta from that whey.

I just heat the whey to 200F, keep it there for 5 minutes (stir so it doesn't scorch and don't let it boil), then pour it through a linen tea towel set in a sieve. The longer you let it drain, the dryer it will be.

It is better, i.e. creamier, if made with whole milk instead of whey, but I seldom bother...

Annie

Annie I see you use the quick method for Mozz too. Have you ever done a cultured version? Do you brine or just add salt at the pulling stage? Microwave or stovetop? I usually don't bother with whey ricotta. I make ricotta most often when I've got tons of milk to use up.

The whey looks gross...clear, a bit yellow, does it turn white when it becomes ricotta?

Yes, the whey is clear and a bit yellow. When you heat it you start to see bits of milk protein forming in the whey, that's the stuff that becomes ricotta.

Mike, I salt when I pull the cheese and I make it when I want it, I don't try to store it. It gets a texture I don't care for when I try to store it in brine. I heat it on the stovetop, although I've been known to reheat in the microwave when it gets too cold to pull well. I'm still just starting on this, I took a cheesemaking class a few months ago.

I use my old Harvest Maid dehydrator to make yogurt, but I don't have very much whey when I make yogurt, so I wouldn't get much ricotta, I don't think. Then again, I've never tried it so maybe I would...

Annie

I occasionally use ricotta, but to be honest, I usually get cottage cheese cause it's much cheaper. I like them both, and don't really think one tastes better than the other.

I grew up in an Italian neighborhood of big families. Lasagna was a big dish to serve a big family. I have had it with ricotta cheese, cottage cheese and mixtures of the two. I do not like the texture or taste of any of these. I agree with Alice, I make mine with layers of shredded mozzarella and some parmesan for my cheese layers. Never had a complaint yet.
D

Always, always ricotta, with mozzarella and parm mixed in for an extra cheesy layer. We love ours cheesy and meaty. A little serving goes a long way. NancyLouise

Ricotta. I have had it with cottage cheese but I prefer ricotta.

Whatever I have! Ricotta, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, or none of the above.
My taste buds like ricotta, but my budget likes cottage cheese.

Deanna

Ricotta. My mom makes it with cottage cheese.