I never noticed any difference. I just look for ones without added gums. I recommend that you put the ricotta in a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth and let it hang over a bowl for a few hours to remove excess liquid. It will remove a couple of tablespoons and make the lasagna more manageable for cutting.

fwiw Cooks Illustrated recommends whole milk mozzarella but says for the ricotta either are fine. They usually find a way to have a preference so I’m guessing it doesn’t matter mucu, at least not in their recipe which make a ricotta mix with egg and herb as I recall.

I've used cottage cheese which is also listed as on either or and not noticed a difference. I never pre boil the pasta so appreciate the extra moisture.

I don't have strong feelings about ricotta but I do prefer whole milk mozzarella for lasagna or pizza.

I don't think there's much difference of opinion about comparing whole vs reduced fat or skim varieties of dairy products. Whether it's sour cream, yogurt, cheese types, ice cream or whatever. Whole milk types are richer and creamier than reduced fat types. That's what the higher fat content produces, it isn't variable. Using a lower fat type saves calories at the cost of being less flavorful.

The question of whether it makes a difference to use one instead of the other as an ingredient for making something, as with lasagna, is a matter of personal preference. We always use whole milk dairy products, that's our personal preference.

I use whole milk ricotta and mozzarella for baked pasta dishes. I like to drain the ricotta first, if I remember. Agree what you like to use is just personal preference…no right or wrong.

I think a lot depends on all the other bits in the lasagna. I don't like the texture of skim. Whole stays where I put it. I've made my own, but for lasagna it's too soft, and I prefer bought. Same with the mozzarella (and I haven't tried to make the other cheeses--It's not like I own the cows...) Since the big tubs brand went away, I tend to prefer Trader Joe's. I like the ricotta to be solid, and not weepy or oozy, and the last thing I want for bought is to have to strain it for days. But that's for the large casserole type. It would matter a lot less for the individual stack kind, which has a lot less filling, a lot less cheese, and doesn't require cut and serve-able structure (which also requires eggs, and come to think of it, that may be an important difference).

When I was a teen, my mother tried to "healthy" up a lot of her traditional cooking, and it didn't really work, especially for something like lasagna. I'd much rather have a half portion of real lasagna and fill up on greens than a full portion of rubber. :) Changing half the sausage to turkey, however, works fine, and I still do that.

" I find quite a difference among brands. "

Good point!

“I've made my own, but for lasagna it's too soft, and I prefer bought”

plllog, I’ve not made my own but was wondering about homemade being too soft. Also, I almost always buy TJ’s ricotta. I hear you regarding ”…a full portion of rubber.”🥴

I'm in the "bechamel sauce as opposed to ricotta" crowd. I'd never heard of ricotta in lasagne until I saw it mentioned here.

Never, Colleen? That’s interesting. Have you heard of it used in any baked pasta dishes? I’ve made lasagna both ways and like both. My favorite lasagna filling consists of ricotta mixed with eggs, spinach, sautéed mushrooms, Parmesan, pinch of nutmeg and salt.

Ricotta is the only reduced-fat cheese I buy. Hard cheeses don't melt well if low fat.

If you want to cut back on fat, omit the ground beef and use just a little Italian sausage in your sauce for flavoring. You won't notice that it's low on meat. I use half a pound. I use good canned San Marzano tomatoes. I like how the fresh tomato flavor comes through when it's not heavy on meat. I also don't use egg in my cheese filling anymore. I don't notice a difference.

Same as Colleen. I make lasagne with bechamel. No ricotta, no eggs. Just ragù, bechamel, cheddar and parmesan, tomato sauce, lasagne sheets. My Roman son-in-law seems happy with it.

No, @chloebud.

Floral, that's the stacked, freeform pasta kind, right? That's similar to the way I make that.

I think most of us are talking about the casserole that, if previous discussions are correct, comes from a particular part of Italy. My mother learned it from a friend's mother who was from Italy, but I don't know where. This kind uses long strips of dry pasta, or full pan-sized sheets of fresh. It's built in thick layers in a large casserole, and generally has a lot more filling than pasta, depending on budget. This is the kind most Americans think of when using the word "lasagna", though that really just is the name of the pasta. Mine starts with a very chunky ragu, and has layers of Italian sausage, beef, ricotta with eggs, fontina, provolone, romano, mozzarella. If I'm making a vegetable lasagna, I usually add herbs to the ricotta and use bechamel, as well. It takes all day, start to finish, is heavy lifting and solid, and freezes and rewarms really well. Great for feeding mobs. And sooooo good...

In low fat vs whole dairy I switched to whole fat for everything a few years ago. I was no longer interested in eating whatever the extra ingredients were in the low fat to mimic or look like whole fat.

I use cottage cheese in my lasagna - 4% fat, not part-skim

@plllog here the bechamel lasagne is also made in a pan such as in your picture, but the filling layers are supposed to be fairly thin, no thicker than a cooked sheet of pasta.

That's the way the free stacked lasagna is. So a hybrid!

My mother uses skim/low fat dairy products in cooking and baking and I think it tastes terrible. I'd rather stop eating dairy than have to compromise with skim.

Cheddar cheese in lasagna? Blasphemey.

I could see cheddar in a breakfast lasagna... ;)

I don't really understand what is meant by 'stacked freeform' lasagne vs. a 'casserole.' The only lasagne I know is built up in thin layers in rectangular pan and is about 4 inches deep. I don't know any other type. I use cheddar because that is the local cheese here. It's delicious and tasty. For me lasagne is not a fancy dish requiring several different cheeses, eggs, sausage etc. It uses a classic ragù, a simple tomato sauce and a cheesy bechamel. And it's not a dish I'd want to eat for breakfast but then I don't eat a heavy breakfast.

The first time I saw the freeform stacked lasagna was in London! At an Italian restaurant where the waiter barely spoke any English. It's usually made with large flat squares of al dente pasta, with thin--pasta thick--schmeers of sauce and/or cheese, and is 2-3 inches high. Often the sheets are offset, perhaps to demonstrate that they were not baked in a casserole. I've been told that this kind is the norm in many parts of Italy, and the casserole kind is actually from a small region, but I don't know any of it as confirmed fact. Perhaps your son-in-law knows for sure. I can't remember any dinners I ate in Italy... I think I mostly ate gelato on the run.

Breakfast lasagna, as opposed to (normal) lasagna eaten for breakfast, has the pasta with breakfast sausage and bacon (American style bacon, crisped and crumbled), scrabled eggs, sometimes crisped potatoes, grilled tomatoes and/or onions, and whatever along those lines. With béchamel, cheese, or even hollandaise, sticking it together. Some people get orange in there too, but I forget how. Some people swap out the pasta for potatoes or pancakes.

Here's one from a reputable blog: https://leitesculinaria.com/354231/recipes-garth-brooks-favorite-breakfast-lasagna.html

Addendum to my grandma story. Her lasagne was meatless. That's how our family does it. And she handmade her own pasta for the layers.

Faftris, Would you post your family’s recipe?

I still don't understand 'freeform' and I'm pretty sure no London restaurants are making individual lasagne. Are you sure it wasn't just a big tray bake cut into squares? I worked in a restaurant in Italy many years ago and that's how they made it. When I make it the sheets are also offset just because that way you don't end up with gaps right through the dish and the thing binds together better, just like laying bricks. I just messaged my SIL for his opinion.

Since breakfast 'lasagna' is not a dish an Italian would recognize so I think it justs confuses any discussion of real lasagne.

Stop press: SIL said "I can’t even begin to understand it, so I’m going to say no".

So, like me, he doesn't know what a freeform stack of lasagne might be.

It's not so much a recipe. I stir in one egg for each pound of ricotta, salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. I dice the mozz very small, just judging by eye, and stirr it in. Boil the lasagne sheets, assemble. But I do make my own marinara sauce. Grandma would spin in her grave, if she thought I was using jarred stuff. But, I have tasted Rao's, and it's very close. Then, into the oven. 350 degrees, maybe 45-55 minutes?

My specialty is manicotti, and I make the crepes using a flour/egg/water batter. The filling is the same as the lasagne. I laugh, because the dish will die with me. DD! hates cheese of any kind; DD2 can't eat dairy. This is making me hungry.

Re ricotta vs béchamel, the first time I’m aware of having had a béchamel was when my German cousin made it. From what I’ve pieced together, béchamel is more common in northern Italy, ricotta in the south. Italian-American food is much more heavily influenced by the southern cuisine, so ricotta is what you’re likely to find in our casual dining.

I should have explained: My question is in relation to the differences in how the final dish cooks opposed to calories/cutting back on fat. I do use whole milk dairy products in general, but do switch off between whole milk and part-skim ricotta for lasagna.

I made chicken lasagna yesterday for a small dinner party and used whole milk ricotta. I was a little concerned about the outcome since I didn't like how the ricotta tasted coming right out of the tub, probably boils down to brand difference there. But, I got a lot of compliments from my guests so all was well in the end.

I'm just mainly interested to know the effects on the dish using one vs the other. I've never found the part-skim stuff I buy to be overly runny or thin, it's on par with the whole milk stuff I buy. I never drain it; I mix the liquid up good into the ricotta when I add the eggs and herbs, the extra moisture is helpful because I do not boil the noodles first (haven't done that since I discovered the Dom Delouise method 20-something years ago...).

“Ricotta was the next cheese up for scrutiny. As it turned out, it made little difference whether we used whole-milk or part-skim ricotta. Each was characteristically creamy and rich, and tasters gave them both a thumbs up.”

- Cooks Illustrated

I’d tend to take them at their word for this. They’d have no reason not to state notable differences if found. Unlike with mozzarella, there they took a stand on whole milk and not pre-shredded, due to melting properties and richer flavor.

I certainly don’t take their every word for gospel, but unlike us who might have preconceived notions like whole milk is richer or part skim is watery or I didn’t like the taste of one off my spoon a few years back, they test these out, batch after batch, and let tasters decide.

Well, in my personal experience, there's a big difference, structurally. And if the structure is wrong, the eating is different, and the sensation is different. I posit that they developed a recipe that would be a fair challenge of just the flavor, and by doing so got much more similarity. There's no way I could make my lasagna with cottage cheese. It wouldn't work. But, people here seem to have success with it in their own ways of doing it.

Floral, the lovely restaurant in London was the first place I had the non-casserole version of lasagna, not the only one. I've met people who make it that way themselves, and seen it in other restaurants. In discussions here, I've gotten the impression that it's regional in Italy, but that's from what other people say. As I said up topic, I have no memory of eating lasagna in Italy. It is a bunch of large squares, with a thin bit of filling in the center, and each perfect square of pasta rotated a bit, freestyle and casual, or a lot, with regularity, in a star pattern, or somthing in between, but never stacked in such a way that it could possibly have been cut from a casserole. The filling is also in the center, and the corners aren't covered. It's pretty and eats well, pasta forward, but is most definitely not cut from something larger.

I'm not surprised if your SIL was horrifed by the very American "breakfast lasagna", but considering that it's generally made with lasagna pasta, and assembled in the same way that a lasagna casserole is, it definitely is a lasagna, even if it's nothing an Italian would produce.

I make a Seafood Lasagna that everyone loves. It is also not Italian, but uses lasagna noodles.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/seafood-lasagna/

I like whole milk. For all the cheeses. Sometimes I skip the ricotta and mozz in favor of a bechamel and some parm. Sometimes I go feta heavy, especially if I'm using a lot of veggies. Sometimes I go moussaka style and use sliced eggplant/potatoes instead of pasta and the seasonings are different than the Italian styles.

I'm usually too lazy to make freeform lasagna. I think it works best with fresh egg pasta sheets, and I rarely feel like making the pasta, lol.

Not pertinent to porkchop’s question, but I saw this version of sheet pan lasagna this morning. The sheet pan looked really full. IDK…all I could think of was a mess in the oven.

Sheet-pan Lasagna

4 tbls olive oil, divided
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 (5 oz) container of baby spinach
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 pound lasagne pasta broken into 3” pieces
1 lb crumbled Italian sausage
1 onion, diced
4 cups marinara sauce
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat the oven to 425F.
In a large skillet, heat 1 tbls of olive oil, add garlic, chili flakes and spinach. Season with salt and cook until wilted. Remove from heat and combine it with the ricotta cheese in a bowl. Set aside

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta pieces until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water. Drain and set aside.

While the pasta is cooking, heat up another 2 tbls of olive oil and cook the sausage and onion for about 8 minutes or until all pink is gone.

In a large bowl, combine pasta, marinara, sausage and onions, pasta water, 1 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan and toss well to combine.

Spread the mixture onto a 12 x 17” baking sheet. Add dollops of the ricotta-spinach mixture on top. Sprinkle the tops with the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the top is lightly browned.

LOL! My first thought was "why?" The first answer that came to mind is the casserole dish was ugly, but was a shower present from his favorite auntie. It also didn't have handles, and was that sort of slippery that towel dried gets when a slick surface is as dried as it can get but still not totally, and, oh, no, it slipped as it was being lowered into the drawer and cracked completely in two, plus shards. "Don't worry, honey! I found one online." "No! (sob) It wouldn't be the same! And what if it breaks and adds more microscopic ceramic shards to the drawer! I'll tell Auntie and take the blame. You can stay her favorite nephew! (sniff)" "I couldn't want for a better or more loyal wife. But what about the lasagna?" "I have those fancy sheet pans with the rolled sides. It'll be shorter, but it'll bake faster, especially if I cut the pasta into squares like in Max Miller's mideaval lasagna. It'll be fine. And it won't break. (sniff)"

Yeah this is definitely more involved than the dump and bake sheet pan recipes that have become popular in recent years. This might be marginally easier than properly layering a lasagna, but my guess is that the big draw is for those who love the crispy edges.

@plllog You mentioned Italy and lasagna. Amazingly, the worst lasagna I ever have been served was in Venice. It was way too heavy and dense, without any of the delicate flavors and subtleties that I was expecting, in Venice for crying out loud! To make matters even worse... the spinach I ordered for the side was fishy tasting. Horrid. Looking back, one of the best meals I had in Europe was a yummy cheeseburger at a Five Guys around the corner from our hotel in Berlin.

Ah. American burgers in Germany. I was travelling, very young, and meeting friends, but came in the night before them. It was December (boy, it's dark in Germany in December), no precipitation, but colder than a witch's... And ever so dark. Not dark just because it was night, but the lights were kind of drowned out by the darkness of the dark which kind of swallowed them up. And I got lost on the short walk from the train station to the hotel, which was on a weird, unlabeled side street parallel to the real street. A very nice taxi driver agreed to take me. Like two blocks. I was so grateful! There was no way after that, that I was walking farther than I could easily find my way back. There was this little, lit sign at the end of the block across the street. A square sign depicting the golden arches. I had a big mac and fries, and it tasted ever so good. It was BRIGHT inside, and the people were nice, and I hadn't had a burger in a long time, and it really did taste that good. :)

Plllog, are you a writer by trade?

Beautifully written, evocative post. No matter what McDonald's says to one ordinarily, one can almost taste how good the one you ate was.

🤗😊🤗😊🤗

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm not a pro. Thank-you!

plllog, I agree…great read! I could almost put myself in that walk in the dark!