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Made the lasagna without the lasagna

866 replies

Brainfogtothemax · 05/01/2026 13:26

What to do?

Just prepped for dinner, did all the mince with tomatoes, onion etc and made the cheese sauce, boiled some potatoes and went to get the lasagna sheets and don’t have any.
Not feeling 100% so cba going to the shops, how can I make it into a proper meal? I have some pasta I could use instead, but what about the potatoes? Save them for tomorrow 🤷🏻‍♀️

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
MeliBee · 06/01/2026 20:14

soupyspoon · 05/01/2026 13:34

Potatoes or cabbage leaves

Call it what you like, it doesnt matter, its meat layered in between carbs and very nice it would be either way (or cabbage if you're not using the carbs)

People are so rigid

It would blow peoples minds to know that in parts of Spain they make paella with pasta.

Whaaaat?? I’m Spanish and I’ve never seen paella with pasta in my life, we would consider that a sin!! Or do you mean fideuá?

1DinosaurAnd3Giraffes · 06/01/2026 20:15

What, in the name of Gordon Ramsay, have I just read? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

limetrees32 · 06/01/2026 20:20

I'm only half way through this thread but I can see why the OP feels lasagna is ok with boiled pots and pasta bake isn't.
Lasagna keeps it block like shape on when served and will be separate from the potatoes .
Whereas a pasta bake is wetter and will spread, encroaching on the potatoes

wordler · 06/01/2026 20:21

Aluna · 06/01/2026 18:09

Lasagne is a fundamentally Italian dish and there isn’t actually a huge amount of variation. The north uses bechamel with parmesan and the south uses ricotta.

I was commenting on the uproar that OP didn’t know you don’t use cheese sauce in lasagne. Which is actually totally untrue.

Edited

And then the American Italian New Yorkers enter the chat and use ricotta, Parmesan AND bechamel!

You’ve got to watch part 1 and part 2 to get the full glorious picture of the final served dish

https://youtube.com/shorts/uTZRjH5_x2M?si=NcrD_sG5QgJdu9dc

https://youtube.com/shorts/1lrq9ailnXk?si=C5_pejbemfJIhqel

Before you continue to YouTube

https://youtube.com/shorts/1lrq9ailnXk?si=C5_pejbemfJIhqel

limetrees32 · 06/01/2026 20:21

I think the OP has had a bit of a hard time here.
Note her username and that she had said she's not feeling well.

Rubinia · 06/01/2026 20:32

Brainfogtothemax · 05/01/2026 17:59

Well, Dh just sat down with it and said ‘Ooh Shepherds pie! Haven’t had this for years

LOL! That’s very kind of him (sorry op!)

why did you put the mash at the bottom btw? Is that just how you presented it or did you cook it like that? I think I’m just very confused by all of this…

Bernardo1 · 06/01/2026 20:48

Favouritefruits · 05/01/2026 13:28

I’m sorry what are the potatoes for? Just make the lasagne into a pasta bake?

This!

If you don't have lasagne sheets, it's not lasagne.

Just use yr pasta shapes and call it bolognaise pasta.

GrooveArmada · 06/01/2026 20:52

1DinosaurAnd3Giraffes · 06/01/2026 20:15

What, in the name of Gordon Ramsay, have I just read? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I feel the same.

Sorry, boiled potatoes 100% do not belong with any pasta dishes. This of course includes a lasagne.

Béchamel does not have cheese in it. It's not cheese sauce. Lasagne should have some cheese on top, if anything.

Personally, if the potatoes were very soft, I'd try to get rid of the skin and mashed them up with the sauce, then spread on top of meat and make that into a cottage pie with a twist.

Otherwise, I'd have sliced or crushed the potatoes and roasted them with olive oil, oregano and parmesan with a bit of sea salt, then served on the side of the meat with heated cheese sauce you made for dipping.

This is one of the most baffling threads, it is amazing what people eat and cook.

Isittimeformynapyet · 06/01/2026 20:57

@ihavetocookagain

We had roast chicken and veg stirfry with rice! I have leftover roasties I’ll sauté with another meal!

No way!!!!

(What is it with exclamation marks these days?)

GrooveArmada · 06/01/2026 21:00

The photo looks like from Rate My Plate.

Isanyonereallyanonymous · 06/01/2026 21:00

Pleeeeease can this go into Classics?

OP, I feel like you had a horrible day trying to make dinner but absolutely fair play to you. If you're never taught any differently or haven't tried something before, how could you know otherwise. I am totally with you on salad being a summer side dish but my mind is boggling a bit at potatoes with lasagne (but not with pasta)
I haven't giggled this much reading a thread in a while, thankyou for sharing and keeping a sense of humour.

grumpygrape · 06/01/2026 21:06

Brainfogtothemax · 05/01/2026 23:23

Maybe that ‘Was’ me 😂 or even more hopeful, I have an amazing soul somewhere who actually eats this too

We were in a restaurant in New England many years ago and the younger lady at the next table asked her mother is she was enjoying her Clam Chowder (a speciality of the area and restaurant). Mother said she was but then her daughter said her friend made Clam Chowder but used Lobster instead of Clams and whizzed it up so there were no lumps.

I managed not to turn and say to her ‘that’ll be Lobster Bisque then, not Clam Chowder’.

OP, I’ve really enjoyed you thread and I don’t care if you eat boiled potatoes with your pasta dish but there are a few issues with your terminology….

Lasagna is either the American spelling of the dish or refers to a single pasta sheet. The Italians call the dish Lasagne because is has multiple sheets.

Your ‘ragu’ isn’t a proper ragu because it only has beef mince, it should also have veal or pork mince as well. It should also have onions, carrots and celery (colours of the Italian flag) to make a sofrito. Wine is for flavour and the majority of the alcohol is cooked off so the dish is OK for children.

Bechamel is a white sauce and if you add cheese that makes it a cheese sauce. Bechamel sauce usually has nutmeg in it. Some Italians sprinkle Parmigiano-Reggiano (similar to Parmesan) on the top layer of Bechamel and finish it under the grill. Some use ricotta.

Traditionally Italian ragu doesn’t have tinned tomatoes, just tomato paste. Tinned tomatoes don’t add any value; you get veggies from the sofrito and liquid from the wine.

Where were the Bay leaves ? Thyme and/or Rosemary yes, but there certainly should have been Bay leaves in the ragu.

Maybe one day cook up a really big pot of ragu, portion it up, freeze some and see how versatile it can be with other pastas?

But, hey, as the MN saying goes, ‘you do you’. I’d prefer you didn’t liken your dish to Lasagne or even Lasagna though. It’s been a great thread though, so thanks. :-)

bumchic · 06/01/2026 21:06

I’ve had a proper shit day and this thread has just made me laugh so much.

Off to tuck into my jalfrezi, pasta and roast potatoes with gherkins now.

Whoknowshere · 06/01/2026 21:07

Brainfogtothemax · 05/01/2026 14:45

It’s honestly not a wind up 🫣 my mums lasagna since childhood was always served with boiled potatoes with butter and bechamel sauce always had grated cheese in. Flabbergasted how this is so outrageous

Every time you write lasagna with potatoes or chips on the side and beshamel with cheese an Italian nonna dies. Pls stop it. You might have eaten like that but it sounds as bad a plate of pasta with potatoes or chips on the side. It is just not done in the land where lasagna comes from.
use the ragù and besciamella on normal pasta as a pasta bake, you need to cook the short pasta (no spaghetti!) 3-4 mins less than written on the bag, then put a layer of sauce, one of besciamella, then a layer of pasta and so on and the last layer over the besciamella you put the parmisan. Bake it 4/5 mins till the grated cheese is crusty.
mash Your potatoes and freeze them and eat them another day with meat, sausages or fish where they belong.

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 06/01/2026 21:09

limetrees32 · 06/01/2026 20:21

I think the OP has had a bit of a hard time here.
Note her username and that she had said she's not feeling well.

I agree. Cooking should be fun, and as easy as you want it to be. The art of home cookery is using what you have and producing something reasonably tasty and nourishing!

@Brainfogtothemax I like to throw around the words "deconstructed", "fusion" and "pared-back" when naming my home experiments!

soupyspoon · 06/01/2026 21:10

wordler · 06/01/2026 20:21

And then the American Italian New Yorkers enter the chat and use ricotta, Parmesan AND bechamel!

You’ve got to watch part 1 and part 2 to get the full glorious picture of the final served dish

https://youtube.com/shorts/uTZRjH5_x2M?si=NcrD_sG5QgJdu9dc

https://youtube.com/shorts/1lrq9ailnXk?si=C5_pejbemfJIhqel

I think there was a court case many years ago involving the definition of 'pizza pie', Italian Americans in uproar of course

About cheese on toast....

soupyspoon · 06/01/2026 21:11

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 06/01/2026 21:09

I agree. Cooking should be fun, and as easy as you want it to be. The art of home cookery is using what you have and producing something reasonably tasty and nourishing!

@Brainfogtothemax I like to throw around the words "deconstructed", "fusion" and "pared-back" when naming my home experiments!

I think the vast majority of people on this thread have never seen an episode of Masterchef, with their rules and shock about putting this or that together

OP needs to apply pronto.

DBSFstupid · 06/01/2026 21:11

Brainfogtothemax · 05/01/2026 14:51

I really don’t know at this point, everything I thought about lasagna since my childhood is a lie, Dh has never queried the boiled potatoes or cheese sauce though
I’m ringing my mum

Sorry but😂

BlanketSnow · 06/01/2026 21:15

Bobiverse · 05/01/2026 22:05

It’s in the sauce. You slow cook the sauce with peppers and carrots, and then blend the sauce if you want it smooth.

You don’t just use onion, garlic and tomato.

Edited

Is this a wind up? You absolutely do not put peppers and carrots in a ragu for lasagne!

Bobiverse · 06/01/2026 21:17

BlanketSnow · 06/01/2026 21:15

Is this a wind up? You absolutely do not put peppers and carrots in a ragu for lasagne!

You absolutely do use carrots. Those are one of the essential ingredients.

Anything else is what parents call “hidden veg.”

DBSFstupid · 06/01/2026 21:18

FOJN · 05/01/2026 15:14

OK I've read all the OP's posts and now I feel like I've smoked something illegal. WTF is going on?
Boiled potatoes with lasagne but no leafy greens because it's winter??????

😂😂😂I'm just catching up on this thread - I'm only on page 4 and feel as though I've been orbited somewhere far far away.....

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 06/01/2026 21:21

Bobiverse · 06/01/2026 21:17

You absolutely do use carrots. Those are one of the essential ingredients.

Anything else is what parents call “hidden veg.”

Agree! I don't think I would put pepper in, personally (though in keeping with my philosophy of absolute freedom to do what you like with your home-cooked lasagne, I would never say you couldn't put a pepper in). But I always start with very finely chopped carrot, celery and onion.

Weirdquestion1 · 06/01/2026 21:22

Make it as a baked pasta sauce and serve it over pasta.

OhFeyreDarling · 06/01/2026 21:27

Brilliant post OP and you keep doing what the hell you like with your dinners. Gosh the food snobs on here have been more ridiculous than you.

Although I'm not sure I'm with you on salad not being able to be eaten when it's snowing, I love me some leafy greens regardless of the weather.

Oh for what it's worth, I put cheese in my sauce for 'Lasagne' too 😂But might have to up my ragu game after some suggestions on here

OhFeyreDarling · 06/01/2026 21:28

Weirdquestion1 · 06/01/2026 21:22

Make it as a baked pasta sauce and serve it over pasta.

Dinner was several hundred posts ago and yesterday

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