In thinking a Lasagne doesn't need a gloopy sauce?

[footflapper]

I'm going make one this weekend, & I am just going to make it with the meat sauce & grated cheese between the layers. I will make the bolognaise sauce slightly runnier for the pasta sheets.

I've never had lasagne, I am very intrigued by it. I can't eat cheese hence not ever trying it DP insists it must be made with cheese on each layer so I'm interested to hear that that isn't traditional.

I will have to try it :) I can always make two and top one with cheese, right?

A question though - if you make and then leave for an hour doesn't it go cold?

I have a fantastic American recipe which, rather than bechamel sauce, layers the ragu sauce and lasagne sheets with ricotta mixed with a beaten egg, mozzarella and Parmesan.

In practice, I use cottage cheese rather than ricotta; I have experimented with both and once it's been mixed with the beaten egg and then cooked in the finished dish, you can't taste the difference. And cottage cheese is much cheaper than ricotta!

People rave about my lasagne she says modestly

Bertie -- your husband is right, you do need cheese! On each layer.

Where I come from it's mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta.

People rave about my lasagna too joining the modest club

But I can't eat cheese :(

Meant to say, when my mum first started using this recipe (c.40 years ago), ricotta cheese would have been almost impossible to get hold of except in specialist delis - hence using the cottage cheese as a substitute.

Once I realised that ricotta was more readily available, I tried (and so did mum) but couldn't tell the difference.

and like the true Scot that I am, reverted to the cheaper option

I also make sure (like others) to have a gloopier ragu sauce and although lasagne sheets are no longer supposed to need pre-cooking, I dunk them for a minute or two in boiling water, so they don't absorb too much of the liquid.

you can easily make a lasagne without cheese, traditional recipes only have it on the top anyway, so just leave it off.

Oh I'm sorry Bertie

In that case I would try a kind of veggie lasagna, perhaps with aubergine and red peppers. You could put cheese on top of half of it for your husband.

Sour cream and grated cheese on top is nice (tip from American MIL).

If you go with no topping, bake covered with foil and it doesn't dry out - dp doesn't eat cheese or béchamel or anything like it so I often make lasagne with no topping.