Urgent help needed to help me save dinner!

[ChappellRoan]

Hi everyone

I've made a beautiful lasagne in the slow cooker (well the ragu)
I only have dry lasagne sheets and I can never not boil them first as they are too chewy.
I par boiled them and they've all stuck together and I'm left with a half assembled lasagne.

I have one more box left. How can I boil them without them sticking? I put olive oil in the saucepan too and it did Jack shit.

I've spent all day doing this and I've made it from scratch and I just want to cry as I've been looking forward to it so much.

I can't go out and get fresh sheets either. Any help please! I do need to boil them first at least partially.

AIBU to think dry pasta is utterly shit!

I’ve never boiled lasagne sheets in my life. Cover them in the bechamel then the ragu and they’ll be fine.

Why are you precooking? Just shove in layers of bolognese, sauce and sheets and repeat.

I can’t say I’ve ever par boiled dry lasagne sheets…I just put them in my lasagne dry and then pop it in the oven for around an hour. Always come out soft

Why can't you just cook it with the raw lasagne? That's how it's meant to be. It will be as soft as you like if you just cook it for a bit longer and just make sure there's enough liquid.
I've never cooked lasagne sheets before as it never seems necessary? Just go for it. It might take longer but that's ok.

Never boil them. Always just use them dry

Maybe try doing them one or two at a time? They don’t need long and it’s the one way to guarantee they don’t stick together…

If you've never not boiled them, what do you usually do?

I'm with everyone else, just use them the way they're supposed to be used.

One or two at a time in a shallow pan and keep them moving / move them apart if needed.

or soak in boiling water in a shallow dish instead

but yes you don’t need to!

Never par boiled them, just layer up the lasagne and cook for 45 mins.

Chop them up into strips, boil, strain and mix into the rago, pour into a dish add all the bechamel and then top with cheese and pop under the grill for a nice pasta bake.

This. I add more water and that helps them cook. I wouldn't know how to cook them without it sticking together.

Agree with using them as they are. A family member used to precook them, and they ended up with a weird mushy texture. They need to have a bit of bite.

You don’t need to preboil but if you want to, lay out spaced evenly on 2 baking trays, cover with boiling water for 5 mins then drain. Good luck!

Never heard of parboiling lasagna sheets. How long are you cooking the lasagna for if the sheets aren't cooked at the end? Mine goes in for 45 minutes

Oil in the water just floats, so no wonder it didn't help them unstick sheet inside the water! 😕

The 1st time I made a lasagne, I was very young and also thought I needed to pre-boil the sheets. The only way is 1-2 in the boiling water at once.

That said, there is absolutely no need to pre-boil them OP! As long as your ragu and bechamel are moist, the sheets will cook when baked.

WHY do you think the sheets need pre-boiling?

Cook them one by one…

Thanks I'll try that, ETA is Halloween

Could it be that the ragu and the bechamel sauce are quite sticky (ie not much liquid left) so not enough moisture to cook the lasagne sheets?

I always found the sheets dry and crunchy in the oven for some reason. Perhaps I'm doing it all wrong but as the ragu has been in the slow cooker all day I tried to save cooking time this evening and thought I could parboil the pasta and save oven time

but I've bitten the bullet and put the sheets in uncooked. I did soak them in boiling water to make them a bit bendy but that's it.

I guess IABU for parboiling lasagne sheets, I assumed everyone did it. Learnt something new today thanks everyone!

I think that's possibly it.
I do make the bechamel quite thick as I add lots of sharp cheddar to it. And the ragu I hate when it's runny and I find the lasagne falls down.

but I've gone with it today and apparently if I let the lasagne sit for 10 minutes it saves it from collapsing.

its hard to believe I am quite an experienced cook but for some reason I can't get a handle on a bloody lasagne!

Ok, don't do that with boxed lasagne sheets. They're designed to go in dry!

You can buy fresh lasagne next time, if you don't trust the ready to bake stuff, but for now just cook any pasta al dente.

Mix into your slow cooker ragu, top with bechamel & parmesan. Whack it in the oven for 30 minutes.

I've had issues with dry sheets before so now I just dip them in boiling water for about 30 seconds then put them in the lasagna. Easier to keep them separate if you only do a couple of sheets at a time.

OP- How are you layering your lasagne? Is the very top layer just sheets and cheese? Which parts of the sheets are getting dry and crispy? Every layer, the corners or just the top layer? It sounds like they aren't being covered in enough sauce enough.

As a side, an Italian friend swears that lasagne is 'supposed' to be cooked a day ahead. Cooled, then cut into squares and re-heated. That way, they remain in shape when cut. It actually does work much better- but you need to plan ahead.

😂😂😂
I hope I didn’t come across as sarcy, I just didn’t want to say the same as everyone else - go in dry 😂

hope your lasagne turned out good in the end!

I’ve never parboiled them but did the other day for quickness as was starving and they did the same and I thought wtf I’m never doing that!!