Sure - just drain the cottage cheese to about the same consistency as ricotta. Heck, I almost always drain ricotta cheese for lasagna anyway.

Oh, good! Thanks, Malna.

Sue

Cottage cheese is creamier that ricotta and I prefer it in lasagna...like Malna said drain it well first.

Linda

You can substitute tofu for ricotta in lasagna, but it's a good idea to use a really good Parmigiano Reggiano, preferably aged at least two years. I have problems with lactose, but Parmesan doesn't bother me. I've found that I can eat Grana Padano cheese as well. Actually, I eat a few cheeses that I shouldn't because the symptoms aren't that bad - at least not as bad as those from milk.

For me, ricotta is not that much of a problem either, and I've found that cream does not bother me, although I had thought for a long time that it did. The problem with dishes with cream was that they usually contained at least small amounts of milk, and the tiniest amount of plain milk will upset me.
Lars

This is from the Wegeman's site...

Lactose-Containing Foods

Product Serving Size Lactose in grams
Sweetened condensed milk (undiluted) 1 cup 30
Evaporated milk (undiluted) 1 cup 24
Yogurt (low fat milk) 1 cup 15
Low fat or non fat milk 1 cup 12
Whole milk 1 cup 11
Yogurt (whole milk) 1 cup 11
Buttermilk 1 cup 10
Ice milk 1/2 cup 9
Ice cream 1/2 cup 6
Whey, sweet dry 1 Tbsp 6
Ricotta cheese 1/2 cup 3-6
Half 'n half cream 2 Tbsp 1.25
Light cream 2 Tbsp 1
Whipping cream 2 Tbsp .75
Cottage cheese 1/2 cup 3
Orange sherbet 1/2 cup 2
American cheese 1 oz 2
Blue cheese 1 oz 1
Mozzarella cheese 1 oz 0.8
Cream cheese 2 Tbsp 0.8
Whey, sweet liquid 1 Tbsp 0.8
Swiss cheese 1 oz 0.5
Cheddar cheese 1 oz 0.5
Butter 2 pats 0.1
Margarine 2 pats trace

Linda (lyndaluu), thanks for "seconding" Malna's advice. It sounds like the cottage cheese will work and taste OK.

LindaC, I'll save that list; it explains why I can handle butter but not the other stuff.

Lars, I appreciate your advice. I've read your posts in the past about lactose intolerance, and I think you're right that we can handle some cheeses (especially the hard, aged types) better than milk per se. But, unlike you, I've found that I can't handle cream, either (maybe it's really the milk mixed with the cream, but I don't want to experiment!). It's not a problem at home, of course, but I've sometimes been in great "distress" immediately after a restaurant meal if I wasn't aware of milk in a brown gravy or thought I could disregard the small amount of cream in a sauce or the shredded parmesan topping on a salad. After you suffer the consequences a few times, you learn to be very cautious (I carry Lactaid tablets in my purse). I'm going to try SoyaKaas mozzarella-style substitute in my lasagna. I keep watching for other new products. There are so many lactose-intolerant people, you'd think there would be a huge market for these products, but so far, they mainly sell soy yogurt and lactose-free milk, cottage cheese, american cheese, and ice cream. I'm grateful that I can have grilled cheese and ice cream again, after years of abstaining, but I'd like to see many more types of cheeses and other products.

Sue

Lars:
About a year ago I asked if you ever talked to a doctor about your Lactose Intolerance.
Did you ever get tested for Allergy ???

Sue : Wouldn't it be great, if you could use the Lactaid Pills in the food you cook.

Hey, Lou, great to see you on this board again! Where ya been, ol' buddy?

It would be ideal to have a form of lactaid that you could just sprinkle onto any type of food. But I find that the pills aren't magic; they prevent me from getting sick, but they sort of "gum up the works," if you know what I mean. I do plan to take the pills when I eat my lasagna, as it will still have the regular parmesan in it. I couldn't find a safe substitute for it. But at least, as Lars says, that kind of cheese is relatively "safe."

Last year, my supermarket had a soy/tofu imitation parmesan, and they also had imitation shredded mozzarella and cheddar products. But this year, they're gone. It must be a case of poor advertising, because there surely must be a market for them. The best products, though, are the ones that are processed to remove the lactose in advance (they taste exactly the same, so they aren't "substitute" anything).

Many people, especially from certain ethnic backgrounds, can't drink milk as adults. I guess most of them simply avoid dairy products (as I did, before these new items became available), or they feel ill every time they have a pizza or ice cream, without understanding why. I think we need more public education on this, as well as more interest from the dairy product manufacturers.

Sue

I actually like the taste of cottage cheese better anyway! Sometimes lasagna recipe will even say use either.....

I can't decide so I mix them half and half, lol!