Home made lasagne - two quick questions

[TheTecknician]

I'm out of touch coz I've not made one for years:

What sort of cheese or cheese do you put on top? I'm thinking of at least a little Blue Stilton among others.

I'm happy with a shop-bought Bechamel sauce. Which would you recommend?

Thankyou.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/304349/recipe/ricotta-and-spinach-lasagne

This is good and you could use Stilton as the blue cheese.

Shop bought béchamel tastes like sweaty socks; definitely make your own.
Blue cheese has no place on a lasagne. I'd use parmasan/mascarpone/fontina...cheddar at a push.

I make lasagne the day before cooking it as I think it tastes better when the sauce has had time to soak into the pasta, also means less chance of crunchy pasta sheets.

I would definitely not put blue cheese anywhere near it, I normally just use cheddar but you could add Parmesan and mozzarella.

Please don't use a bechamel jar, they are ghastly. Making the sauce is easy, I don't measure ingredients so I put a chunk of butter in a pan, melt it, add in a couple of tablespoons of white flour, then gradually add in milk whilst stirring until it's boiled down to the right consistency. Then add some grated cheese.
I used to use creme fraiche with grated cheese and that's fine, but for Christmas I think the sauce would be nicer.

I use Stilton in a mushroom and leek lasagne which is nice.

Meat lasagne I use cheddar and Parmesan

Homemade bechamel sauce.
Mozzarella and parmesan on top.

Use this recipe.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-lasagne

Whatever cheese is in the fridge - parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella. If I have all of them then it's whatever needs using up. Usually parmesan and / or mozzarella as the cheddar can be used in so many other ways!

Sometimes all three will go on.

Never Stilton!

If you fancy blue cheese in a lasagne, Delia does a great vegetarian one with blue cheese, spinach and pine nuts.

If you want to put Stilton on top, put Stilton on top, people are so rigid.

The thing with Blue Stilton is that it is a surprisingly fitting partner for beef. In the past I have crumbled a little into a beef/pork ragu just to scoff with spaghetti or linguine. Also, I have in my freezer two steak, ale and Stilton pies from a local butcher. I've been buying those for years and the Stilton adds a real richness to the gravy. So putting a little on top of a lasagne isn't such a mad idea. I stress - a little.

Apologies to all Italians out there but I use crème fraiche instead of bechamel. I actually prefer it because it has a slight tang that I finds helps to cut through the richness.

Cheddar and mozzarella on top for me.

Re the bechamel, I cheat! A layer of soft cream cheese between lasagne sheets works well, or I make a sauce by just stirring grated cheddar into a pot of creme fraiche.

If not using home made pasta sheets Mary Berry recommends letting the lasagne rest at least 8 hours to allow the dry pasta to moisten before cooking. Game changer !

long story short: garlic baguette. freeze it. grate it when it's still frozen. put on top of the lasagne for garlicky croutons/cousins of croutons.

also make your own cheese sauce and tomato sauce. and use fresh pasta also.

Dry lasagne sheets from Sainsbury's. I wanted verdi to look a bit different but couldn't find any.

@UninventiveName I make my white sauce/bechamel in the microwave. That way it never burns. Same method, just doing the cooking in the microwave not on the hob. I take it out to stir it frequently, but I dont need to stand there stirring it.

Inspired by this, I've got portions of my lasagna out of the freezer for tomorrow's dinner, so thank you!

I had forgotten about this method but that’s good advice, thanks.

I've bought a grated four cheese mix for the top. Many will be delighted to know Blue Stilton is not one of the four! Still time though.

Step away from the blue cheese! 4 cheese mix sounds good though, enjoy!